The Blossoming of Sand
by gaaleex
Summary: Set in the future, Rock Lee ends up in Suna on a mission escorting Gaara back from Konoha, with romance blooming! But does a battle erupt from a single mistake made, resulting in death? Yaoi. GaaLee/LeeGaa.
1. Starry Night

**The Blossoming of Sand**

**by gaaleex**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING OF NARUTO.**

_Just a little note before I begin. This is my first fan fiction and, well, it might completely suck. XD I'll do little notes at the bottom of each chapter so say what is coming up and such. Please review, it would be amazing of you to offer me tips on how to improve if you think I'm terrible too! Okay, enough with my rambling, on with the story. Oh one last thing! (You'll get used to me forgetting important things). The Blossoming of Sand is set in the future, ahead of the Manga, so it's just my interpretation (or hopes) of what happens next. _

**Chapter One: Starry Night**

It wasn't an unusual night. The stars were in the sky, clutching it like sequins on a velvet ebony blanket. There wasn't a cloud that hung over Konoha, which meant civilians and ninjas alike were all out, enjoying the evening, drinking, gambling, doing whatever pleased them most.

Perhaps all but one ninja. Rock Lee, a unique looking twenty one year old was at his regular training spot in the forest, kicking his leg at a post. He had been training for several hours now and the sweat dripped off him. His black bobbed hair was tousled and his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. At the thousandth kick at the post, he sank to the ground, his breathing in heavy gasps.

"If I don't run around the whole of Konoha ten times," he panted, "I have to jump rope ten thousand times. If I don't jump rope ten thousand times, I'll have to punch this post two thou-"

"And if you don't do that, you'll do something else impossible?" A voice broke in.

Lee jumped to his feet, startled, and turned around sharply. _That could have been an enemy nin! _He thought, still catching his breath. _I will need to train myself in harder so I am still aware of my surroundings while training my body!_

The voice actually belonged to Sakura Haruno, a pink haired woman a year younger than Rock Lee. She was almost completely flat chested and often wore clothing that made them as much as possible. Tonight was no exception and her makeup suggested she was about to go out into Konoha for the night. Sakura looked at her comrade with a slight tilt to her head. When was the last time he had come out with the others? He was still wearing his green spandex suit after all these years, and the same blush appeared on his cheeks at the sight of Sakura.

"I am sorry, Sakura-san," Lee said, and bowed. "But this is my training." He smiled. "Surely Naruto-kun must train as hard?"

"No one trains as hard as you, Lee," Sakura chuckled. "But tonight, just for me, would you come out with us? The others and I? You need to find…" The Chuunin let her voice tail way, leaving an awkward silence. She had meant to say 'love' but never had the guts to quite tell Lee he had been single for too long. People speculated he may just be asexual but his friends countered that. Lee and love went together. There wasn't a moment he wasn't spouting about it and youth.

"I would love to, Sakura-san." Lee replied. In truth, he wasn't quite satisfied with the amount of training he had done, but refusing a friend twice for the same offer in one night was a no go for him. Sakura wrinkled her nose slightly when the Jounin insisted there was no time to go home and change, then took her hand and pulled her along to speed up. Rock Lee was the fastest Ninja known.

How Lee knew where they were all meeting up, Sakura didn't know, but they arrived at the restaurant to find everyone sat down on a large table with plenty of spaces left over.

"Lee! Sakura how did you get him to come?" Naruto yelled, thumping Lee on the back happily and indicating the seat next to him. "Sit here - Sakura can sit elsewhere. I thought when she asked you earlier you were training? You haven't been training all this time though have you?"

Hinata giggled. "What do you think?" She murmured. Naruto answered that with a soft kiss on the lips.

Lee averted his gaze from and looked around at everyone as they greeted him. It was as if everyone from their childhood was here, and happily in love. Naruto and Hinata were ordering the same meal to share, Ino and Choji laughing about their complete opposite diets. Sai was chatting to Shino as both their girlfriends were absent this evening. Shikamaru had his arm around Temari, the sand ninja, sister to Kankuro (who was currently in an embrace with Kiba) and…Gaara.

The redhead was sat alone at the end of the table, a reluctant Sakura taking her seat beside him. He glared at her for a second before staring at Lee intently, as if studying him. The Kazekage was visiting on account of Naruto having officially been made Hokage yesterday and he had stayed over the past month to help him learn how to rule a village with Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage. He was leaving tomorrow.

Gaara and Lee spoke when they saw each other, and were friends in Lee's eyes, though Gaara had never uttered these words. He was a lot more talkative than the old Gaara, before Naruto changed him for the better, but they still hadn't quite made the bond of true friendship yet.

"Lee? You ordering?" Neji broke into Lee's thoughts. He was gesturing to the waiting waitress. Ten Ten, Neji's fiancée, giggled at her old team mate.

"So sorry!" Lee burbled. "I'll just have what you're having, Neji-kun." He smiled at the blonde waitress and leaned back in his chair, shifting himself into a more comfortable position. He could relax and eat his food and not think about Gaara. Why was he thinking so deeply about Gaara anyway? He had lots of friends.

"I'll have what Lee is having." Gaara's voice passed easily across the table to the waitress, who jotted it down, smiling slightly at the easiness of the three orders all being the same, then trotted off. "I believe you're escorting me back tomorrow, Lee," Gaara continued.

Temari prised herself way from Shikamaru for a moment. Her spiky blonde hair was piled into a complicated topknot. She cast a glance at Lee then at Gaara and smirked. The eldest of everyone seated at the table, Temari considered herself a bit superior. "Just Lee," she commented smoothly. "I rather think Kankuro and I staying a week on for personal reasons is quite selfish." She frowned. "The Kazekage should have more guard than one Jounin Ninja."

Gaara ignored her, but Kankuro, having heard his sister's loud voice, chuckled. "Temari, Gaara will be perfectly safe. Lee was the first guy to hurt him after all."

The Hokage, who had issued Lee to the mission (which Lee hadn't even heard about yet having been training all day), muttered under his breath, "Gaara wouldn't let me assign anyone else."

This caused the green spandex wearing ninja to look at Gaara in surprise. Only requested him? Why? This news gave Lee a strange feeling in his stomach.

***

Later, as Rock Lee was walking home, a little earlier than everyone else as much of them had started drinking and the whole village knew this ninja didn't, _couldn't_ drink. So he tactfully withdrew himself from the bar (which they had moved on to after the meal at the restaurant) and was no halfway home. The stars in the sky were still sparkling steadily. _Imagine being a star, _Lee thought. _Always pretty, always the same, always in the same place. _Some might find this comforting, but Lee was horrified by the idea. He had to get better each and everyday.

"If I run home now and get there in ten minutes, tomorrow my mission will go twice as well as it would have done." No sooner had Lee uttered these words, he was running at full speed with his weights on all the way home. He made it there in nine minutes, and was very red in the face.

The mission was going to go twice as well! Lee jumped in the air and punched it with his fist. The Jounin showered off a day's sweat, and wrapped a small towel around his hips. After drying off and slipping into bed, naked, he sighed deeply.

His hand closed over his penis and he stroked it gently. As the feelings of pleasure passed over him an image popped into Lee's mind, startling him.

The Kazekage of Suna, staring at Lee with those brooding, haunted eyes, dressed in the Kage blue robes.

**Author's Note: **_**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Lee is clearly having some thoughts about the Kazekage. Next time is the journey back to Suna, just Lee and Gaara…**_


	2. Journey Alone

_Well here is the next chapter! I will try to write a chapter once a week from now on, once a fortnight at maximum. Reviews welcomed! For anyone out there wondering about my pairings I've compiled a list:_

_GaaLee (of course)_

_NaruHina_

_KanKiba_

_TemShika_

_ChojIno_

_NejiTen _

_If I add some more pairings into the story it shall be in the notes. Now, onto the story! Oh, and thank you for the reviews I received for chapter one. (:_

**Chapter Two: Journey Alone**

"I suppose this would count as an A Rank Mission," Naruto told Lee as they were speaking in his office. He was new to the whole ranking of missions, but guarding a Kazekage was A, wasn't it? _Trust Tsunade to be on holiday, _he thought. "Now, the Kazekage is waiting at the entrance to you I believe. You are welcome to stay in Suna while you rest up. I just ask you're back after a week at least." Naruto waved his hand at Lee. "We're done."

"I will take Gaara-sama back to Suna with no worries!" Rock Lee promised, doing the 'nice guy' pose. He dashed from the room so quickly Naruto didn't see him leave, just the open door.

Hinata appeared in the doorway, a blush appearing on her cheeks that contrasted her pale skin. She closed the door behind her and sidled up to the Hokage shyly. "Naruto-kun…" She whispered, then grinned. "Hokage-sama."

"You know I hate it when you call me that," Naruto retorted, but fondly. He took Hinata in his arms and kissed her passionately. The Jounin was placed on the desk slowly, their tongues entwining. Then the Hokage pulled away with a mischievous smile. He shut the curtains on the huge windows. "Shall we?" He asked.

The Byakugan user shrugged innocently. "It's your office," she told him. "Ninjas could walk in at any minute…"

"That's a yes then?" Naruto growled. He covered her blushing face in kisses. Hinata wasn't the type to go for this sort of thing, but after two years together he was slowly bringing her around he was sure.

Letting out a soft moan as her top was unbuttoned and breasts were touched, Hinata mumbled, "It's a yes."

"Good." Naruto brushed away some important documents. "Because I've got plenty of time…"

***

Gaara was stood at the front gates of Konoha, gourd on his back as usual, dressed in more practical travelling clothes than his Kazekage robes. Lee hadn't yet arrived and the red head was slightly confused as to why he just wanted him to himself on this journey. When Naruto offered Sakura, Ino and Choji for escorting Gaara back he'd immediately informed the Hokage he wanted Lee and no one else. But why?

There were some past memories with this guy. When Gaara still had his demon inside of him, he almost killed Lee. Twice. This was also the first Ninja to ever have harmed him. Then he repaid his debt by saving Lee from the bone man, Kimimaro. All this had happened within a year. But being with Lee…Gaara couldn't explain it. He felt like he had to protect him, know where he was at all times. Gaara stepped backwards in surprise. What was this feeling? He had never experienced anything like it. But it had begun when he saved Lee that time, all those years ago. It was weak at first, but each time they met afterwards it grew stronger and stronger. Now, they were about to be alone for three days. This made Gaara's stomach feel odd. He touched it awkwardly. Whatever this was, he just had to find out eventually. Perhaps Lee would know? He was doing this to him.

"Gaara-sama!" The call from Lee signalled the Kazekage's attention and he turned his head. Lee, dressed in his usual spandex suit, ran up to him and stopped as soon as he was about a metre away. "Where is your luggage?" He asked Gaara, glancing around at the ground with a hint of confusion In his eyes.

"Leaving with Temari and Kankuro next week." The Kazekage replied. "Shall we depart?"

"Of course!" said Lee hurriedly. "I was trying to find Gai Sensei which is why I took so long incase you were wondering to say goodbye as I won't see him for a week." They were walking out of the village as he burbled this, up the dusty path with trees surrounding them.

Gaara raised the muscle in his forehead. "I wasn't wondering about that." He stated. There was a pause as Lee tried to think of something to say. He hated silences. "It's only a week. Why bother to say goodbye?" Gaara added as an afterthought.

Rock Lee quickened his pace to keep up with Gaara, who had started walking rather fast. "Because Gai Sensei means a lot to me!" The Jounin answered with passion. The adoration of his teacher clearly showed in his voice. "He is incredible! Dynamic! He has taught me so much over the years and helped me when I was down over -" Flustered, Lee broke off what he was about to say. "He is great. My hero. I will miss him even if it were only a day." He finished, his tone lagging slightly.

"Down over…?" Gaara let his voice trail away.

"What did you tell Naruto-kun about ruling a city?" Lee gabbled. He was clearly uncomfortable but Gaara wasn't having any of it.

The Kazekage had, by now, however, realised why the bobbed hair Jounin was so reluctant to answer. "About me?" He persisted quietly. "I regret that. I regret so many things, Lee."

"I wasn't down over you!" Lee burst out. "It was the operation. There was only a 58% it would be a success. I just didn't want to say as you, er, caused it. But it was a match. And," to Gaara's surprise Lee reached over to nudge him, then thought the better of it. "I basically had you beat. If I hadn't paused for one second I'd have beaten you in one blow."

Gaara let out a small smile. It was almost accidental and Lee saw it before he could hide it with his emotionless expression once more. "No way," Gaara retorted. "I'd have done something in time I'm sure." It felt strange, to basically joke about the match with Lee. "Rematch." Gaara said suddenly.

Lee stopped striding. He came to a standstill. It was something he had been considering in his own mind as they talked but he never would have said it aloud. It was so difficult to know what Gaara was thinking. However the smile at least proved the Kazekage was entertained. In fact - the Jounin couldn't recall a time when he had seen Gaara smile like that, his eyes lighting up. Noticing the strange looks Gaara was giving him, Lee started walking again hurriedly.

"Is that a no?" The Kazekage inquired.

Lee looked perplexed for a second. Then he remembered. "Oh! The rematch. Of course!" He responded, laughing.

"What's funny?" Gaara adjured. He felt happy that they were going to fight again, but he didn't see the humour in that.

Rock Lee shrugged. "I just think it's going to be funny when I see the look on your face when I beat you is all." He admitted with a rivalry expression on his face. "I'm pleased I can fight you again!"

"Just you wait, Lee."

It may have been the heat of the midday sun, but Gaara and Lee weren't acting like their normal selves. They seemed closer, somehow. And ready for a rematch that would truly decide which was better at fighting.

***

As nightfall was upon them, Rock Lee found some shelter from the rain which had started to fall to mask the night sky with clouds in a small cave. It had enough room for Gaara and Lee to lie inside and build a fire. When the Kazekage admitted he didn't know how to make a fire, Lee was completely in surprise. Surely this was something everyone knew? Nevertheless, the youthful Ninja taught him how and were eventually both seated inside the cave, warming themselves by the well built fire, rain spattering outside. The night before had been so peaceful yet now it was forgotten.

"What time is it?" Gaara wondered out loud.

Lee looked around the cave. "Sorry, Gaara-sama. Late, I assume, judging from the darkness surrounding us. Are you tired?" He gestured towards the pack lying on the ground next to him, that had been on his back all day. "I have a sleeping rug you can lie on, and a sheet to pull over you. I, er, assumed you had luggage with you. You can have mine."

Looking at the Jounin's bandaged hands Gaara shook his head. "My clothes are comfortable enough to have over me, you have the rug." He decided, and wouldn't listen to Lee's objections. "You are exhausted. Go to sleep. I will just rest my eyes."

"Don't you sleep, Gaara-sama?" Lee puzzled. "I thought after your demon was removed, you could?"

The Kazekage ran a hand through his red hair. "I am used to not sleeping. Insomnia just runs through me now. Have pleasant dreams when you fall into sleep, Rock Lee."

Once Rock Lee had set out his 'bed' and was lying down comfortably, the Kazekage stood up and started to undress. As his top was thrown off and a creamy, taut, stomach was revealed, Lee felt awed and couldn't help but stare. There wasn't a single hair (accidentally the Jounin had imagined red chest hair and wondered what it would look like) and it made the younger man seem older, somehow. Lee, fully dressed, pressed a hand to his six pack through his suit. Gaara had a much better chest in Lee's opinion. It suited him. It looked nice.

_Nice?_ Lee shook the thought from his brain. Don't go there. Then his eyes widened. "Gaara-sama, what are you doing?!" He yelped as the Kazekage stood in just his pants, his lean, long legs on show, still no hair.

"Undressing," Gaara answered calmly. "I can tuck my clothes around me then."

Lee spluttered, "You'll be fine like that!" Something about Gaara being completely naked made Lee feel strange. Not uncomfortable exactly, but he still didn't want to find out exactly what it was. The Kazekage had been on his mind a lot lately.

The redhead shrugged. "Are you uncomfortable with myself being completely naked?" It was almost like he read the Jounin's thoughts.

"N-no!" Lee cried. He sat up and tried to keep eye contact, though he kept sneaking glances at his chest. "Do as you wish, Gaara-sama."

"Gaara-sama," murmured the Kazekage thoughtfully. He tactfully kept his pants on and slipped under his clothes, pulling them around him. The ground was hard but he decided to put up with it. Lee worked far harder than he - and he had carried that backpack the whole journey. He was strong. "Goodnight, Lee."

Lee closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Until morning, Gaara-sama." At this he was able to drift into sleep, but Gaara lay awake, the rain still persistent outside.

He never had got to ask Lee about these curious feelings.

**Author's Note: **_**Reviews please! I don't want to think no one is reading this. In chapter three they arrive in Suna and it's time for the rematch. Maybe more.**_


	3. Rematch

**Chapter Three: Rematch**

Lee was given his own room in the Kazekage's building, in the same hallway as Gaara's bedroom. It was well decorated with elegant silvers and blues, and a large four poster bed and plenty of changes of clothes. Although Lee was going to miss wearing his green spandex suit for a day, it did need a wash. He was told to have the day to relax and settle in while Gaara sorted out official business then tomorrow would be their rematch. Lee had to admit he was very excited about it. He had to train! He was sure he had seen a training area somewhere around here…

After throwing on a suit similar to his usual, except red and black, and separated into a top and trouser set, he dashed over around the building, looking through windows to see if he could find an area to train. Lee was down in the entrance hall when he bumped into a servant, a small dark haired girl replacing flowers in a ceramic vase. She seemed surprised as the Jounin approached her but welcomed him with a wide smile.

"May I help you, Sir?" She greeted him. "Rock Lee, isn't it?"

Although surprised she knew, Lee didn't comment on that. "Would you happen to have a training ground near here?" He said this almost shyly. It seemed rude to train in someone else's grounds.

"Certainly. Kazekage-sama already warned us you'd want to train. Follow me." She started walking off before Lee could respond, so he hurried after her, a bemused expression on his face. Gaara knew Lee quite well after all, the ninja chuckled, and found this made him happy. Eventually they reached a small but well equipped training area complete with posts and ropes to jump and a track to run. The servant left politely and Lee was left to do whatever he wanted.

Sand flew into the air as the Jounin jumped rope but he didn't care. _This is good training for my eyes aswell! _Lee thought, a smile itching onto his face. _Gaara-sama is bound to throw sand around again. _The grin faded slightly as he remembered all those years ago when he being a ninja was in question due to sand. However, he was past that now! His leg was fine. He was the fastest ninja around, after all.

After jumping the rope seven hundred times, he began punching and kicking the post alternatively. "After punching and kicking this post five hundred times, I will run up and down the track eight hundred times!" He yelled to himself, speeding his attacks on the target.

It was when he had reached his five hundred goal and gasped to catch his breath, that he sensed someone was there, watching him. Lee glanced around suspiciously. "Who's there?" He called, and span round to find himself face to face with Gaara, leaning against another post with his arms folded. Sweat trickled down Lee's forehead and he wiped it away, eyes still on the redhead. How long had he been there? Kicking at the sand Lee was slightly irritated when training he didn't sense people sneaking up on him. It had happened with Sakura, now Gaara.

The fact that Gaara was watching him, though…

"Gaara-sama," the bobbed haired man eventually spluttered. "How long have you been watching me train?"

"A while," he shrugged carelessly. "I finished my duties and one of my servants told me you were here. How about our rematch now? Unless you'd like to eat first."

Now?! Lee grinned, trying to hide his surprise. Why not now? He realised, and bowed low to the Kazekage. "I accept your challenge, Gaara-sama!" Lee shouted with passion, jumping backwards and landing in his fighting stance, one arm raised, the smirk still resting on his lips.

Gaara stayed where he was, no emotion shown on his face, arms crossed. The sand starting to burst from his gourd and Lee knew this signalled the rematch had begun. To build up his speed Lee ran round and round Gaara, then charged with a kick: "Konoha Senpuu!"

The barrier of sand collided with the kick; but before it could grab the leg of Lee he back flipped away and paused to take off his weights.

"Let's start this properly, Gaara-sama!" Rock Lee yelled, as the weights crashed onto the sand throwing lots into the air so the Jounin was hidden from view suddenly. Not that it would have mattered - Lee was behind Gaara in a second and the redhead's sand barrier was appearing all around him but the sounds of the kicks were too far behind the speed of this ninja.

Then a kick got straight through and hit Gaara full in the face. He flew backwards into sand, but Lee didn't give him a chance to pick himself back up. His bandages were untied and the Kazekage knew this was Lee's Lotus.

Just as Gaara had stood up he was caught in Lee's attack, the ninja moving too fast for him to see. And this time there was no break for pain; he was well trained and fast when he wanted to defeat someone. As the Kazekage was about to be pummelled into the ground however he cried, "Sabaku Bannin!" With a huge amount of strength Gaara forced his sand barrier to cushion his fall as he crashed into the sand.

It still had an impact, though - on both ninjas. Gaara lay in the sand, pain exploding within him, and Lee sat metres away, breathing heavily, his body temporarily weakened by that move. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before Gaara sat up and created a sand avalanche.

Although the Lotus caused strain on the body, Lee had trained so hard with this move he found himself, with effort, able to run from the sand heading towards him like a tidal wave. It smashed down just a few feet from him and when it cleared Lee saw Gaara stood as he was at the beginning of the match, his arms folded, face expressionless, except for the scuffs on his clothes and the trickle of blood not quite falling down his cheek from the kick Lee delivered.

"Very well played, Gaara-sama," Lee complimented. "However once my body has recovered fully beware of my next move! It almost got you last time."

"If it didn't get me last time, when I was weaker, why would it this time?" Gaara raised a non existent eyebrow.

The Konoha ninja folded his arms too. "I am stronger with each growing day." He stated, before lifting his arm and perfecting his fighting stance once more. "Now, let us stop talking and fight with all our Youth and Power!"

"Still spouting rubbish." Gaara rolled his eyes expressively, but he too focused and tried to think of a strategy to win.

In a flash Rock Lee was gone - the sand barrier collided with his leg in a kick to hit Gaara but less than a second later a punch hit him in the back. The Kazekage scowled. He was not going to be beaten by a Jounin! He sent a mass of sand all around him and the attack was so sudden it surprised Lee and the dodge wasn't quite far away enough; he was caught in a lock of sand. It felt only too familiar, except this time his whole lower half covered. The ninja flinched as Gaara raised a hand the same way he had done all those years ago.

_If I get beaten now, maybe even Tsunade won't be able to cure this wound! _Lee thought determinedly. He had to act fast and perform the Eight Gates move. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice the Kazekage hesitate, and start to lower his hand.

"First Gate, Opening Gate - release!" Lee's Chakra started to build around him. "Second Gate, Healing Gate - release!" The bobbed hair ninja smashed his way out of the sand with the sudden increase of physical strength. "Third Gate, Life Gate - release!" At this his skin grew fiery and he knew it was time to perform the Reverse Lotus to finish this match.

Gaara's eyes widened. He knew what attack this was! But before he could build up his ultimate defence Lee had charged at him and was kicking and punching the Kazekage into the air. The attacks were more brutal than the Chuunin Exam. _This could be bad. _Gaara gasped out loud. It was at this moment Lee's move was haltered, his bandages thrown at with kunai to pin them to the wall of the building next to them. Lee's energy drained and he fell, as did the Kazekage, but both were caught by two ANBU.

"What are you _doing_, Kazekage-sama?!" The ANBU who was now being thrown back by a pile a sand for touching Gaara, demanded with a shocked tone.

"Fighting." Gaara answered bluntly, brushing his clothes. "And you interrupted."

Lee, collapsed onto the ground, panting, managed a wry smile. "We can always fight another time, Gaara-sama!"

The second ANBU adjusted his mask slightly. "Sorry, Kazekage-sama, but everyone was wondering about the ruckus. Allowing you to fight like this, unnecessarily, won't be allowed."

"Won't be allowed?" Gaara was irritated the fight had ended so abruptly. "I am the Kazekage, aren't I?"

"And by that you should be responsible and not cause lots of attention." The first ANBU said firmly. "You have some things to take care of. Follow us." At this he turned to Lee and murmured, "That move is Forbidden."

Lee chewed his lip. "My most sincere apologies." He bowed low after he managed to stand. "I shall retreat to my room to rest. Gaara-sama," he smiled at the Kage. "You fought with great strength and spirit! I am proud to call you a rival."

Gaara stared at Lee intently. A flicker of a smile hit his lips.

***

As night fell across Suna, Lee was out on his balcony staring up at cloudy sky. It looked like there might be a storm later. He liked to train in the difficult conditions but felt it rude to ask anymore training. He'd already caused enough uproar and was rather embarrassed about it.

"Lee, I have a question."

The ninja had already sensed this redhead behind him, but felt so amazed he didn't comment. At this, he turned and smiled, nervous for some reason. "Your question, Gaara?"

"What is this feeling?" Gaara wondered, stepping forward, closing the space between them. "You confuse me. I feel differently towards you than anyone else. When we fought today I wanted to protect you, not hurt you." He frowned. "What is this? I've never experienced anything like it."

Lee's mouth opened slightly, but he was speechless. How could one possibly respond to that? He tried to think. "W-what sort of feelings, Gaara-sama?" He stammered.

The Kazekage pondered this for a moment. "Is it 'attraction'? Temari and Kankuro tried to teach me about things to get myself a girlfriend. I always want to know where you are. Last night, I watched you from the window. You slept peacefully."

An almost automatic movement from Lee brought him to touch Gaara's tattoo. But Gaara didn't flinch or back away. His eyes travelled to Lee's hand and he brought it down to his own, holding it gently. As the two stared into each other's eyes Lee knew this was everything everyone had been telling him to get. He realised now all of those thoughts that shocked him; he felt something towards Gaara.

"Your tattoo." Lee mumbled. They were still holding hands, and Gaara was looking at this action in astonishment. "Love. I think I might grow to love you, Gaara-sama." No sooner than were the words out of his mouth Lee regretted them. Gaara wasn't like other people. How would he react?

"Love…?" The Kazekage removed his hand from Lee's. "I do not understand love. Not really."

Lee didn't reply, but exhaled in relief Gaara didn't storm off. To be honest, he thought he understood love. Until today. Until tonight. This was completely new.

**Author's Note: **_**Does this seem too rushed? And my first time at trying to write a fight scene, sorry if this was disappointing. Longest chapter so far. Reviews please.**_


	4. Fresh Beginnings

**Chapter Four: Fresh Beginnings**

_I am really sorry if you thought the chapter three was rushed. (I did). Thanks for the reviews. This chapter is going to focus on everyone's beginnings after the war with Sasuke (which is explained in here) the year before, so while Lee and Gaara are definitely in this, there will be some flashbacks from some of the other main characters, just as a break from the main plotline and explaining the couples in more depth._

The Hokage had just finished speaking with some Genins about to go on a mission to find a lost cat. He had done a mission like this one years ago, with Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto grimaced; talking or thinking about Sasuke was still painful. After years of trying to find him, when he came back to Konoha to overthrow it, and destroy it, Naruto knew this was when he had lost his friend, his brother. There was a photo on the desk of the old Team Seven. What had gone wrong?

It was after Naruto had struck the final blow to Sasuke and the battle had come to a close that it was decided he was to become the Hokage. It was strange to think this was only a year ago. The memory hit Naruto like a ton of bricks.

_Sasuke was breathing heavily. He hadn't realised how strong Naruto had gotten, and the two of them were still Genins. Almost all of his Chakra was gone, and after Orochimaru's power was removed by Itachi there wasn't any reserve. But Naruto still had plenty and the Demon Fox hadn't even come out yet like it used to when he was mad. There was a pause as the two of them looked at each other. This was his enemy, his best friend, his brother, his rival all in one person. For both of them. But hatred had taken over Sasuke's life._

"_Stop this, Sasuke." Naruto's voice was calm, but his eyes were on red alert, waiting for a sudden move. "You can end this right now. Don't hurt any more people."_

_The Uchiha closed his eyes. "I'm going blind, Naruto. When my eyes are open my vision is only slightly better. My Chakra is almost gone. I can't defeat you." He opened his eyes and smiled wryly. "You've gotten so strong. Itachi was wrong about one thing. He said only an Uchiha can defeat an Uchiha."_

_Naruto's eye saddened. "Sasuke…"_

"_I'm sorry, Naruto, you won't be able to look for me anymore." Sasuke laughed, but it was hollow. "Now, let us fight till one of us perishes. Unless…" His speed brought him close to Naruto with his sword. He handed it to Naruto. "Hatred led me to this. It was fate. End it."_

_The future Hokage knew this. Everyone knew this would happen eventually. "Goodbye, Sasuke." Naruto mumbled, and drove the sword into his stomach, blood seeping out. _

"_I hate you, you know." These were Sasuke's final words, uttered with the smallest smile, but Naruto saw it._

"_I hate you too." Naruto whispered, as Sasuke went limp in his arms._

The sword owned by Sasuke was hung up on the wall. Naruto glanced at it.

***

Lee opened his circular eyes and for a moment forgot where he was. Then as he glanced around began to gather his surroundings. He sat up and pulled on his green jump suit, which was laid out at the end of his bed, done by a servant most likely. There was a huge mirror on the wall next to his double bed and he paused to stand in front of it, thumbs up, a smile on his face. He would head back for Konoha later this evening. There would be just enough time for breakfast, then a run around Suna, lunch, then bidding goodbye to everyone. Lee hoped the Kazekage wouldn't be too busy to say farewell.

The Kazekage…_Gaara!_ Lee gasped out loud. What had happened last night? He distinctly remembered holding hands and blurting something out about love. After that it was a blur.

"Rock Lee?" Someone was knocking on the door. "The Kazekage-sama wishes to speak to you right away."

Did everyone know what a fool of himself Lee had made? And now Gaara wanted to speak with him. Right away. Was he going to be thrown out of Suna? Gai-Sensei would be so disappointed in his student. Lee shook his head to rid himself of any negative thoughts and answered the door. It was an older man with a bald head, who lead Lee to a room just down the stairs, and in a hall to the left, the third door.

"Knock and wait here until the Kazekage-sama orders you to enter." The servant told Lee in a stern voice, then walked away.

Instead of actually having to knock on the door however, it opened and Gaara was stood behind it. His height was so much shorter than Lee's so the Jounin had to look down at him. Lee suddenly had the greatest urge to ruffle Gaara's red hair. As he walked in and closed the door, realising this must be his office, Lee promised himself to never act upon these urges.

"About last night…" Lee started, but Gaara waved a hand to silence him.

"I have been thinking about love. My family taught me about love, but it always mixed with hate. And then Temari told me about attraction and sex." Gaara's tone was calm. "I didn't think there was any difference but apparently love is deeper…more sublime."

Lee started to wonder where the Kazekage was going with this. Then he swallowed. "Last night - did anything…happen? I cannot remember much."

"No. Our hands were joint for a short moment, then we didn't speak for ages and I bid you goodnight." Gaara responded, filling Lee with relief but also disappointment. Did he want something to happen between them? _Of course I do. I can't fight this anymore. I love Gaara._ Lee thought. "Anyway," Gaara continued. "I was thinking about love and then I thought about you saying you might grow to love me. How can you be so sure?"

"Of love?" Lee looked perplexed. "You just know about love! It's all to do with your youth and strength and energy!" He struck the 'nice guy' pose before feeling self conscious and blushing.

Gaara frowned. "That's all, Lee. You can leave now."

The older man bowed, then darted out of the room in an instant, letting out a breath he had been holding for a long time. What would happen now? He didn't know. He also didn't know where to go for breakfast, so went without and started his run around Suna, checking out all of the surroundings as he went, looking at the Sand Ninja and Villagers alike, stores selling all sorts. His pace slowed to a walk as he passed a gift shop. There was a plushie of an owl that had the resemblance of Lee himself.

The shopkeeper was busy with some other customers and Lee didn't want to intrude, so he put the owl back and carried on with his run throughout Suna.

"If I can make it round this village in an hour, and get back to that shop in that time limit, everything will be fine." Lee promised himself, and found his legs speeding up. Pretty soon just a blur of green was spotted running through the village.

***

Temari stifled a yawn as she sat up in bed, her blonde spiky hair tumbling around her shoulders. Last night's makeup was smeared round her face from what she could see in the mirror opposite the bed and her and his clothes were crumpled together on the floor in a pile. _His_ being Shikamaru, the lazy Jounin, who was now fast asleep, his black hair spread out across the pillow like an ebony curtain.

They had finally gotten together (which, according to everyone else, they should have done years ago) about a year ago, during Sasuke's attack on Konoha. Temari grinned as she recalled it.

_Shikamaru's shadow caught one of Sasuke's comrades, Karin, so she couldn't move, and stood frozen to the spot, her eyes full of fear. As the Chuunin (he had been made a Jounin shortly after this) sat down and began to think, a noise crept up behind him, but he sensed it as her, the female Sand Ninja. Temari._

_Her fan slammed into the ground next to Shikamaru, who smirked. "This one can't do much from what I've observed," Shikamaru told Temari. "However she does have an extensive knowledge and power to do with Chakra. Instead of defeating her, we should capture her and hold her in for questioning with Ibiki."_

"_Sasuke-kun will defeat all of you!" The trapped ninja shrieked, her voice straining at a high pitch. "He is one of the best ninja in the world! I won't reveal anything to you."_

"_Shall I shut her up?" Temari asked. Shikamaru rolled his eye but didn't comment, which she took as a yes. Her fan was opened wide and wind was propelled at Karin while she was trapped still, and the sheer pressure of being stood in a place with strong amounts of wind being blown at her made the ninja gasp, scream a loud, terrified scream and faint._

_Shikamaru released the technique and sighed. "Your attacks are too loud," he muttered. "Enemy ninja will arrive here shortly now they've heard that scream she gave."_

_To which Temari retorted, "At least I shut her up, right?" She watched her comrade walk over to the fallen woman, then saw a flash of something. In a second, Temari was at Shikamaru's side, her fan throwing Karin into the air, who had merely pretended to faint and had a kunai ready in her hand to stab Shikamaru, then as she landed caught her so she hit the fan hard, as she had done with Ten Ten, way back in the Chuunin Exam. It had all happened so fast and smoothly that Shikamaru couldn't help but smile as he stared at the now for real knocked out Karin. _

"_Much better." Shikamaru complimented. Temari glanced around, kissed his lips softly and winked. _

"_Troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled, but there was a twinkle in his eyes._

Temari was wide awake. The memory had made her want Shikamaru right now. She got her pillow and hit him.

"Temari!" The Jounin opened his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Want to have some fun?" She asked in a seductive tone, a sexy smile on her attractive face.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. "No. I want to sleep." And he turned over.

So he couldn't see the shocked and enraged look on his lover's face.

***

Rock Lee had finished his run on a high, having gotten back to the shop within the time limit task he had set himself. The only slight setback was the owl he had wanted to buy for himself was gone. There was, however, a squirrel with red fur that had dark ringed eyes and looked exactly like Gaara. He bought it as a present for him, but in reality was too scared to actually give it to him. He still wasn't sure what exactly was going on between them.

Lee was in the bedroom he'd been allocated, and was packing up his backpack, when the door burst open and Gaara charged in. There was a servant behind him waiting in the doorway, too nervous to point out what the Kazekage wasn't exactly polite.

"You can leave now." Gaara commanded the servant, who bowed and shut the door, leaving the two of them alone in the bedroom. He sat on the bed and Lee did the same, next to him.

There was an awkward silence that followed, Gaara just staring at Lee for a very long time, while he shifted about uncomfortably. Eventually Gaara brought something out from his pocket and handed it to the Jounin in a flourish. "I couldn't be bothered to wrap it," he told Lee with a shrug.

In Lee's hands was the owl from earlier he had seen in the store, the one that had been sold before he could return. "Gaara-sama, how did you know this was exactly what I wanted?" He asked, placing it in his backpack, which was full to bursting, but not heavy.

"I used my Third Eye Jutsu to follow you around all day, and saw you looking at this. Then you started running and I couldn't keep up, so I ordered one of my servants to go and buy this for you." Gaara answered. He seemed to not be looking at Lee's eyes, more his lips. "It's an ugly toy."

Lee chuckled nervously. "I rather thought it reminded myself of me in all honesty. Which reminds me! I have something for you." He produced the squirrel from where he was keeping it. As Gaara had gotten him a present, it was merely polite to give him this, though it was intended for him in the first place if Lee wasn't so shy. It was strange to think with Sakura he hadn't been shy at all, but with Gaara it was all so different. And of course, Sakura hadn't liked him back, though he realised now that what he felt for Sakura was nothing compared to…this. Whatever it was.

The Kazekage obediently took the squirrel and felt the soft material. "Thank you, Lee. But there's a better present you can give me."

A better present? _Maybe I can turn this into a challenge,_ Lee thought. "What is it, Gaara-sama? I will go and fetch it right away."

Gaara rolled his eyes, but leaned close into Lee's face. "You just know what love is, right?" He checked. "When you feel something, you know whether or not it is love or a mere sexual attraction?"

"Yes." Lee gulped, wondering what he was going to do.

But he needn't have worried. The Kazekage moved that extra bit further and kissed Lee gently on the lips. _Softer than the squirrel plushie,_ Gaara thought, deepening the osculation.

***

Kankuro and Temari were heading back to their village in a matter of minutes, the three day long journey awaiting them. Ino and Choji were accompanying them along the way. Shikamaru stood at the gate and waved goodbye; Kiba was on a mission already. They wondered what their brother had been doing.

"Reckon he'll have dealt with that form I gave him?" Kankuro pondered to Temari, who kept turning around and waving at Shikamaru as they walked up the path.

"No. He said he'd only do it if he had the time." Temari eventually replied.

"Well, there isn't much for the Kazekage to be doing over the past week. What else would he be doing? Keeping Lee company?" Kankuro snorted at the idea. "I bet he used our training grounds aswell."

"Oh leave him be, he lives to train." Temari sighed.

As the two bickered, Ino and Choji exchanged glances at each other, smiling. They were engaged and were planning to get married the following year. Choji promised to slim down. He couldn't help it is crisps kept calling to him.

***

_Did Gaara just kiss me or was this just an illusion? _Lee thought. He touched his lips and the taste of sand lingered on them. It was no fantasy. The Kazekage really had just kissed him.

"Gaara?" Forgetting his title, Lee uttered his name in amazement with the wind from the open window fluttering through, causing Gaara's hair to swish about.

"Did I do it right?" Gaara broke the silent spell. "I've never kissed anyone before, and have only seen other people do it."

Lee smiled. "Exactly right, Gaara-sama."

"Want to do it again?" He wondered. "And don't call me Gaara-sama. It seems too official."

Of Lee wanted to do it again. He nodded breathlessly and Gaara leaned in once more. The Jounin didn't know how he was going to be able to break away from him now.

Maybe he could stay just one more night.

**Author's Note: **_**Right! Not too sure about this chapter. The flashbacks are to cut away from the main plot to give it a bit of a break as it has been constant, but I don't know if I did it all right or not. Would really like some reviews on this chapter. Thanks. OH! And comment on how I handled Gaara and Rock Lee's first kiss, please? Was it okay?**_


	5. A Whole New World

**Chapter Five: A Whole New World**

_I say it every time but I really mean it - thank you for the reviews. They really do make my day. Now, Gaara and Lee have kissed but…what next? What's going to happen in this chapter?_

The night was hanging over Suna. The village was sleeping, only the occasional noise of voices or the homeless walking around, searching for food, or birds and other animals. In the largest building, behind the village houses, on a balcony visible only to the trees in front of it, stood two Ninja. One from Konoha, the other the Kazekage of this village. There had been a moment when their lips caressed one another, and the touch was breathtaking. As they broke apart, all they could do was stare at each other for a long time.

Gaara, the Kazekage, his red hair standing on end, looked into the eye's of the bobbed haired Ninja, Lee. _He's beautiful in an ugly way. His eyes are round, his mouth wide, his hairstyle odd. And yet I love him. _Gaara ran a hand through his hair. _Love him? Why do I love such a man? So opposite to me, so full of life. What is love? Is it this? Do I want to be with Lee forever? _The thought of Lee leaving Gaara and never seeing him again caused a great stab of pain in the area where his heart should be. _My heart hurts…because of the thought of the loss of Lee? Temari told me this would be love, but for a girlfriend. Lee is not a girl. So can I not love him truly?_

"You aren't a girl." Gaara's sudden speech startled the entranced Lee. "So I can't love you. Temari told me love is between a man and a woman."

"Gaara…" Lee blinked. Didn't Gaara know anything of love and attraction? "Love can be between anyone. A man and a woman. A woman and a woman. A man and a man, like us." The 'like us' slipped out before he could stop it, but the feeling of he and Gaara loving each other was too strong.

"A man and a man." Gaara repeated. "Like us." He kissed Lee again, but quickly, their lips connecting, before he retreated. "I don't know how to love someone."

Lee took his hand. "Be yourself, Gaara, for that is who I fell in love with, isn't it?" He beamed and did his nice guy pose. "Gaara-kun! I will protect you with my life!"

"I'll protect you too, Lee." Gaara murmured.

They joined hands and walk back into Lee's bedroom. Without speaking they knew what to do. Gaara undressed Lee slowly and stared at the six pack hidden underneath. He ran his hand across it, and hovered over his member, but didn't touch it. Lee disposed of the Kazekage's clothes. He blushed when he saw the taut stomach again, and remembered their journey just a few days before. A lot had changed over a short period of time. Together they entered Lee's bed and pulled the quilt over them. Lee held Gaara's naked body in his arms, his red hair brushing against his nose. The Kazekage always was a lot shorter than Lee. He never wanted to let go of him, but sleep was drawing him closer. Lee tightened his grasp, closed his eyes, and was succumbed to a slumber. Gaara lay awake, staring at the open window, the curtains fluttering in the breeze, his arms entwined with Lee's.

_What am I doing? Am I really lying in the arms of another man? Of Lee? This isn't me. I'm alone, I always have been. How could someone love someone like me? I crushed his bones back when I was a monster. How can he trust me? How can he so easily slip into sleep with me lying in his arms like this, when I could do anything? Kill him, torture him, stay still, accept him, hold him, love him, protect him, keep him… I don't want to do negative things to this man anymore. I want him to be happy, and safe. Lee feeling the happiest he could be - I want that so much. Would he be happy with me? He seems happy. But he has to leave tomorrow for Konoha. Without me. No one should stand in the way of us._

Gaara closed his eyes. His thoughts troubled him throughout the night, but warmth of Lee kept him smiling; something he hadn't done for a long period of time for his entire life. The effect of the Lotus of Konoha.

***

Of course, the servant had spoken to Lee before, when she directed him to the training grounds. She'd gathered what his personality was like as she led him there, the man jumping up and down and jogging rather than walking, eager to train. Although she hadn't necessarily meant to, she had taken a look at his strong body and gathered he must train all the time. He was fit; only out of breath after doing impossible tasks for normal people. So she thought she knew the sort of person he was from that; strong, healthy, happy-go-lucky, dedicated.

The morning sun shone through Suna, and there was just the gentle wind to cool you down from the heat from the sun, which was situated in a bright, blue, cloudless sky. It was a completely perfect day. It was this servant's particular duty to sort out the guest bedrooms after the guest, namely Rock Lee, had left. And he was due to leave last night, and no one had seen him since the early evening, telling them he was going to pack up his things to leave.

She thought she knew the Kazekage well too. He wasn't the 'monster' he used to be, the whole village knew that. But there still some uneasiness around him. Gaara didn't talk much, she'd never seen him truly smile, but he was a good leader. His siblings, however, were far more approachable and talkative. She didn't think Gaara even knew her name.

Which was why, on that early morning, as she hummed to herself and burst through the door of the guest bedroom, her eyes turned as big as saucers, her mouth fell open and she dropped the fresh laundry to the floor at the sight of Lee and Gaara in bed together; one fast asleep, the other awake and staring straight at her.

"Kazekage-sama! Excuse me!" She squeaked, hastily trying to pick up the sheets on the floor. "I will just be a second!"

Gaara wriggled from Lee's warm hold, though he reluctant to, and sat him, the quilt falling, revealing his chest. There was an awkward pause as the two stared at each other, until Lee sighed, and woke up with a start, sitting straight up.

"Gaara-kun! I mean, Gaara-sama!" Lee turned bright red. He couldn't move from his space. "We were completely sleeping innocently, Miss." He blurted out to the also embarrassed servant. "I mean - our clothes…"

"You do not have to explain yourself to this servant, Lee." Gaara stated. "It's her job not to make our personal matters her business."

"But I can't just -! We didn't do anything!" Lee gasped.

The servant bowed. "Kazekage-sama, please call me if you need me. I'll come back to, er, change the sheets, later." She gathered the laundry, then quickly walked out of the room, kicking the door shut behind her for privacy. As she walked down the hall, the image of the Kazekage lying in Lee's arms, _smiling_, didn't seem as horrifying as it first had. He was smiling after all. She giggled. Lee was truly shocked at the sight of her though, as she was at them at first. But the thought of them becoming any closer than that (because everyone knew Lee did not tell lies, so their sleep, while close, was clean) made the servant girl shudder. She shook the thought from her mind, and carried on with her next duty.

Gaara clenched his fists. He hated being interrupted. Lee was awake now; the night spell was shattered.

Lee turned to Gaara. "I am so sorry! I don't know what I was thinking last night. And I'm a whole day late leaving for Konoha. I must run as fast as I can to catch up on time. I have to leave right away." As the blushing ninja burbled this, he hurriedly put on his clothes, and tidied his hair. He hitched his backpack onto his back and stood there, wondering what to say next. Lee was still unsure with all of this, and whether they were lovers, or what.

"I don't want you to go." Gaara's voice was firm. "Stay with me." He got up, not caring he was naked, and stood in front of Lee. "I feel horrible when I think of you leaving. Don't leave."

"Gaara-kun," Lee bent down to Gaara's height and beamed, his eyes closing. "I won't forget this night we shared. I will be back soon for sure! YOSH!" He kissed the Kazekage softly, sweetly, on the lips, then a blush appeared once more on his cheeks. "Though you need to be decent. Put some clothes on."

The redhead frowned. "Wait for me at the entrance to Suna. I'll be there in half an hour or so, I need to do something first."

Lee promised he would. _He is acting differently suddenly. What is wrong? I hope my leaving has nothing to do with it. I don't want him to feel horrible when I leave._

***

The servant was collecting wood in the forest, her hair flying in the wind. She heard a noise behind her, but assumed it was an animal of some kind.

"Why is he leaving me?"

"Aargh!" The servant jumped, startled, and whipped around to see the Kazekage standing behind her, his eyes scary and different; more like the old times. She knew this was bad, she knew that had to try and calm the situation - but she didn't know _how_. She had to remain calm herself. "Who is leaving you, Kazekage-sama?"

He inched closer. "Lee. You woke him up. I'd still be lying in his arms…" He covered his face with his hands. "I feel - angry. With you. Why did you wake him up?" He raised his arm. Sand started to explode from his gourd. "He's leaving me."

Terrified, the servant made the mistake of taking a step back, and trying to walk away. What had happened to the Kazekage? "Please look at what you are doing, Kazekage-sama! You are the Kazekage of Suna. Please!" Her voice had turned into a high pitched shriek by the end. The sand gathered around her; she closed her eyes and knew what was coming. "Please…" she whispered one last time. A tear trickled down her cheek.

Something had changed the Kazekage. Was it Lee? Why would he act like this? The servant thought it was changing him for the better; he had smiled, even, but what was happening now? All because she interrupted? It seemed to small. Lee leaving? He would return. What was this?

"_Sabaku Kyu!_" Gaara screamed, and the servant girl was crushed by the sand coffin. Gaara stared at the spot she perished, then looked at his hands.

"Blood." He murmured. "She won't interrupt Lee and I again. Never again. We'll be fine. He is leaving me, but we'll be fine, he promised we'll be together again…"

He carried on like this, muttering words to himself, convincing himself what he had done was for the greater good and himself and Lee's future, until he arrived at the spot he and Lee were designated to meet. Lee was there first, and his face lit up from inside when he saw Gaara.

"I'll be back soon, don't you worry," Lee told him, embracing him closely. "A mission to Suna will be around the corner. In the mean time we can write letters to one another, right?" He paused, then continued delicately. "So are we…together, now?"

"Together?" Gaara repeated.

"Boyfriends." Lee cringed slightly as he said this.

"You mean are we lovers? Yes. We are." Gaara answered in an instant. _Lee is mine._ He thought. _All mine._

_Yes! Gaara has finally admitted out feelings for one another out in the open! We can finally unit in love during our youth and old age, together. Though he does seem rather strange. Where was he just now? _Lee smiled, but another thought struck him. "I don't believe we should tell everyone yet. I'm not exactly comfortable…" He hesitated. "That servant girl…?"

"She won't tell." Gaara assured him. "Why don't you want people to know?"

"Just not yet. I need to get my head round these past few days first without everyone around me reacting." Lee gave Gaara another quick kiss, then pulled away and hitched up his backpack. "I have to depart. I will run twice as fast as I planned and will get there with time to spare!" He declared, giving one last wave to Lee before running off into the direction of Konoha, far, far away. "My sweat sparkling in the sun is incredible!" He yelled to Gaara, and then his speed increased and he was just a dot in the distance.

"Goodbye, Lee." Gaara whispered. Then he turned and went back into the village.

**Author's Note: **_**What happened here?! Okay, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had a great idea but not sure if it came across well so please review it. Next chapter Lee is back in Konoha, Gaara left in Suna, both missing each other. **_


	6. Konoha

**Chapter Six: Konoha**

_Thank you for the reviews, again. I hope there are still lots of you out there reading this. Any advice for me, just say in your review (if you're reviewing this chapter, which you totally should). Okay, so on with chapter six. What happened with Gaara? How's he going to cope now Lee is back home?_

Tsunade, returned from her holiday sporting a tan, sat in Naruto's office, getting her fill on what had happened the past few weeks. The village was still rebuilding well after the war and more missions were being ordered for Jounin and Chuunin to go on. Konoha was slowly gaining back it's power. At first, when the news of Sasuke dead had rang through the countries, Konoha had seemed even stronger than before, but with the city damaged terribly it was obvious Konoha had lost a lot of valued Ninja. However, now, they were getting back to being a powerful village.

"And then after I sent those Genins on that mission, Lee was ordered to escort the Kazekage back," Naruto continued, ruffling through some papers, feeling official. He had a date with Hinata later that he was looking forward to and his mind kept wandering to that.

"Just Lee? For the Kazekage?" Tsunade frowned. "I know we need to send ninja out on all the missions we can get but for a Kage you should have sent more out…"

"Gaara insisted." Naruto shrugged. "And besides, all is done now. Lee will be back by this eveni-"

Before his sentence could be completed, the door burst open and Lee landed at both the Hokage's feet. His face was red and he was gasping for breath, but he managed to stand up and give a bow and a salute to the stunned faces.

"I…left…two…days…ago!" Lee managed to choke out, before breathing once more to catch his breath. He smiled wryly. "It's a record!"

"Lee!" Tsunade took him by the shoulders. "What have I told you about straining yourself too much?"

Naruto grinned. "Well, we were just talking about you! How did your mission go, then? Was Gaara all right to you?"

Usually after a mission this Ninja would be brimming with news about what happened, and usually how he would do better next time as something had not gone exactly to plan. Then he'd be ready to train for his next mission. Lee wasn't one who liked hanging around doing nothing; _the opposite to Shikamaru_, Naruto thought. However as this question was delivered to him, Lee's cheeks flushed and he looked very guilty about something. But there was also something else in his expression…happiness? Like a kid with a secret he was pleased about.

Tsunade noticed this aswell and raised an eyebrow. "Lee? Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine!" Lee insisted suddenly, wriggling from Tsunade's grasp and beaming at them both. "The mission was a success and Gaara was very hospitable to me. I was wrong to leave a day later than planned…" He chuckled. "But I made up for it getting her a few hours earlier by running at my full speed! Gai-Sensei will be proud!"

"Oh, well. Good." Naruto was at a loss of what to say. He'd have to talk to Lee later; as his friend, not his Hokage. "There are no missions for you as of yet, so you can leave."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Lee bowed his head, then did the same to Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama." Then he walked out, closing the door politely behind him, escaping any more questions with a sigh of relief heard by both the Hokage.

"What's up with him?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.

"No idea." Naruto shrugged. "I'll find out later, I still haven't finished going over the past few days with you."

Tsunade groaned. "I'd have thought you wouldn't take this all so seriously. Can't we finish it later?"

"No," Naruto laughed. "As later Shizune has a few documents for you to sign. I did mine this morning, while you were fast asleep. Now." He flipped a page in the pile of paper he was holding, and promptly forgot about Lee. "Shino and Choji were…"

***

Gaara sat in his office, expression sad and lost. He didn't know what this feeling was, like half of him was missing, or something. He ran a hand through his hair just as his siblings appeared in front of him with large smiles on their faces. Gaara frowned; he wasn't in the mood to talk to happy people. He was feeling too down, and guilty. What was happening to his hardened heart? Lee was melting it, slowly, by each minute.

"Gaara! We've missed you." Temari grabbed him into a big hug and ruffled his hair. "How was everything? Did Lee escort you okay? Anything happen with Suna while we were gone?"

"Temari," Gaara groaned, pulling away and standing with his arms folded. "You were only not here without me a few days. Nothing has happened to Suna. Lee…" He was about to tell them, when he remembered the ninja didn't feel comfortable yet. What was the point in keeping it secret? Gaara didn't know, but he wasn't about to betray his trust. "Escorted me back fine. He was a good escort."

Kankuro punched Gaara's arm lightly; the sand barrier allowed it. "Did he use our training grounds? I was talking to Temari about it. And that form too about the new Chuunin."

"Yes, I've signed that form, the new Chuunin are decided, and yes he used our training grounds." Gaara felt like he was answering to someone who felt he was an irresponsible child. "Are you quite done? I have some work that needs doing."

Temari, better at sensing out her brother's feelings, despite her tough exterior, looked at him closely. "Is something wrong, Gaara?"

"Everything is wrong." Was Gaara's sullen reply. "When are we going to Konoha again?" He asked suddenly, his tone improving slightly.

His older siblings exchanged glances. "Not for a while yet, Gaara." Kankuro chuckled anxiously. "We've only just left it." They bid their goodbyes, then left Gaara alone and walked down the hallway together, trying to puzzle his weird behaviour out.

"He's been in a strange mood since leaving Konoha, has he, do you reckon?" Temari questioned her brother as they strode, a few servants greeting them as they passed. She smiled knowingly. "I know what _I_ reckon. He's found a girlfriend in Konoha! After all this time!"

Kankuro stared at his sister like she was crazy. "This is _Gaara_ we're talking about here. Not some other ninja. The Kazekage, Gaara of the Desert. And you're saying he's got some girlfriend back in Konoha? All right, I'll play along. Who?"

His sister smirked. "Well. She has been single for a while after getting over, ahem, Sasuke. When Gaara was advising Naruto she was always in the background helping him fetch documents or whatever, kind of like the Shizune to Tsunade, but she was smiling in a warm way to him when she did it. And then that last night she was there, she sat next to him in the restaurant didn't she? I have to be right! He did stay out late most nights before coming back to our rooms in Shikamaru's home. Seeing her, no doubt."

After a shocked silence for a few seconds, Kankuro spluttered, "Are you talking about Sakura?!"

"Don't seem so surprised! It's about time Gaara got a girlfriend." Temari shrugged innocently. "Mind you, there are a lot stronger ninja out there than her. He could have done much better. But there's no accounting for taste, clearly." She nudged Kankuro in the ribs. "How's Kiba, nowadays?"

Rolling his eyes, Kankuro turned sharply right to start walking down the corridor to speak with one of the advisors. He waved a hand at his sister before he went and told her with a grin, "I don't believe you're right for one second about Sakura, but then again there does seem to be something in Konoha that Gaara misses. We'll find out eventually I'm sure." Then he was off, and Temari laughed to herself.

_I'm right, _she thought. _I'm sure of it._

***

_It was Gaara's last night in Konoha, and as usual he spent the evenings walking around the village while everyone else was sleeping, breathing in the different smell from his own village and having the comfort of knowing if something went wrong here, he wouldn't have to sort it out. That was Naruto's job as the Hokage. He was doing a good job as far as Gaara could see and there wasn't anymore to teach him, so now tomorrow he would be leaving with Lee, the Jounin Ninja he requested. The one he almost killed, and the one who was the reason Gaara stayed up so late each night here. Although he did his usual route of the entire village first, he always found himself as he had done that first night; spying into Lee's bedroom._

_He couldn't see anything wrong with it. He'd done this all the time as a child, watching adults and children get up to all sorts when they thought they were alone. But with Lee it seemed more intimate somehow, and he felt quite nervous when watching him, almost worried he'd do something to shatter the perfect image he had._

_Tonight, Lee had gotten back in record time. He jumped in the air and punched it with his fist. The Jounin showered off a day's sweat, and wrapped a small towel around his hips. After drying off and slipping into bed, naked, he sighed deeply. Gaara pressed his fingertips to the glass. There was movement under the quilt and it was a surprise to find he masturbated. A lot of people did to Gaara's knowledge, but he wouldn't have put Lee down as one of them._

_Lee seemed to startle slightly, then settled down and drifted into sleep. Just as Gaara was about to leave he saw Lee's lips move. Curious as to what he was saying in his sleep, Gaara opened the window quietly and slinked inside. _

"_Gaara…Gaara-sama…" Lee was mumbling, frowning. "What do you feel - for me? Gaara-sama?"_

_As he thrashed about uncomfortably, Gaara placed his hand over Lee's hot forehead and the ebony haired man eventually settled down again. Gaara stayed like that for a while, just listening to him breathe. He didn't speak again and Gaara almost wished he did. There was a strange excited feeling in his stomach as Lee uttered his name, but the Kazekage couldn't quite place it. It was like happiness, and excitement, and nerves, mixed together. Almost like when he smiled at him._

_The redhead closed the window behind him and walked back to Shikamaru's house, where he was staying this last night. Temari answered the door to let him in, wearing just a long t-shirt, her hair ruffled up, but she seemed to smile in a knowing way, like she knew where he was. Maybe she did. His sister wasn't stupid. He didn't care._

Gaara woke up. He hadn't slept in a while and that dream surprised him. It was back before he and Lee admitted their feelings. Lee promised to write a letter and one hadn't arrived yet. When would it come? What if he forgot about his Gaara?

Lee was his, and Gaara was Lee's. _But,_ Gaara thought with a frown. _He still hasn't wrote._

There had to be an excuse to come back to Konoha at some point. Until then, the Kazekage had to be patient, and just recall the time he had with his bobbed haired lover.

***

Lee chewed his pen thoughtfully. He'd been sat at his desk for half an hour and hadn't written a single thing so far for his letter to Gaara. He didn't tell anyone what he was doing, not even Gai, after his promise, but this letter was another promise and he always kept them. Eventually he leaned back and stared at the white ceiling above. _Maybe if I think of this like a challenge. If this is done in the next ten minutes, _Lee tried to think of something worthwhile. _When Gaara and I finally tell people about us it will all sort out fine!_

It was all the inspiration he needed; Lee was scribbling the first thing that came to his mind which was what he'd done since he'd been back (train, mostly) and how much he missed him. But he made sure it didn't look like they were celebrating youth by being together too much. Gaara would understand, being such a clever yet complex minded young soul.

"Done!" Lee signed it, sealed it, then cheerily kissed the seal and wrote the address. After searching around the village a bit he managed to find a messenger bird that would get the letter to him quickly.

He was sure Gaara would love it.

**Author's Note: **_**I didn't get as many reviews as I hoped for the last chapter so I am hoping for more on this one! Please review. (: Next chapter, Gaara receives the letter and…**_


	7. Three Letters and One Note

**Chapter Seven: Three Letters and One Note**

_Finally chapter seven! I am quite busy lately with homework, so this is done in all the free time I can get. Once again, thanks for the reviews._

"Letter for you, Kazekage-sama." A servant placed a letter on the desk and bowed his head before retreating. He paused at the doorway and looked into the leader's eyes. "Mila, she hasn't been around in a week or so. No one knows where she has gone. So she no longer works for you."

Gaara wanted to read his letter. He didn't even recall who Mila was until _that_ day flashed back into his mind, the day Lee left for Konoha and the day that servant girl, apparently named Mila, had…the Kazekage shook his head. It was a mistake. "Whatever. Leave now. Tell no one to disturb me for at least an hour." He ordered the new male servant, and as the door closed in reply and Gaara was alone, only then did he pick up the envelope, slightly bent from being held in the messenger bird's pouch.

Lee's neat handwriting had written the address perfectly without a smudge or a hesitation in the hand. Not one to sit staring at something unopened for long, Gaara opened the envelope and brought the letter out and tossed the envelope aside, holding the letter tightly in his hands. He was pleased to see there was a lot to read, though it did seem as if it had been done in a bit of a rush, which Gaara resented. His eyes scrolled to the bottom, where Lee had signed it: _With all my love (of the friendship and youth kind) your friend Rock Lee._

"Pfftt." This covering up their relationship business with all a bit ludicrous. But nonetheless Gaara zipped his eyes back up to the top of the letter, shifted comfortably in his seat and settled down to read it in the adequate silence.

As he read occasionally something would darken his mood, and he came across a particular paragraph that gripped him with such a feeling he knew immediately what it was.

Jealousy.

_Dear Gaara-kun,_

_This is my letter to you that I promised I would write. I made it back to Konoha in two days! This is earlier than I was even due back, which was in a few hours time from when I arrived. Naruto-kun and Tsunade-sama were very shocked but a mission well accomplished! It went better than I could have hoped, as you know, and I am very happy right now. Tomorrow will be better than today, however, as I always say. I will be better, and as will you._

_So far I have just been visiting all of my comrades and Gai Sensei to see how they are as I have missed them. Sakura-san was especially helpful as while I was gone she looked after my squirrel (much like the plushie I gave you) and plants. She even tidied up! I treated her to a meal at our favourite restaurant as a thanks, and it was like old times, like nothing bad had ever happened. I even believe she is overcoming Sasuke-kun. Naruto-kun and Hinata-san are closer than ever - I do hope we can become like them._

_Enough of my friends for the moment. How have you been? How is Suna? Are Temari and Kankuro with you now? I do not like the idea of you being in that huge building with no loved ones. I have a mission tomorrow with Sakura-san and Kiba-kun (with Akamaru of course) that involves us travelling over to the Country of Rain so I will not be able to reply to your letter, if you choose to respond, for a few days._

_Are there any issues a Konoha ninja could deal with in Konoha at the moment over in Suna? I would like to see you again very soon._

_With all my love (of the friendship and youth kind) your friend Rock Lee._

_P.S, the owl plushie you gave me sits on my window ledge, staring out into the city. Thank you very much for it, once more._

Friends. With Lee's positive attitude he had many. With Gaara's negative attitude he had few. People respected him but that wasn't like a friend. Naruto, Lee, his siblings, Kiba, Shikamaru and Hinata at a push as they were roped into this by their other halves. Lee was Gaara's other half, and one of the closest friends he'd ever had.

"Gaara!" Temari burst into the room without so much as a knock, and her eyes spotted the Kazekage hurriedly putting something away in a drawer under his desk. She hesitated, wondering briefly what it could be, then decided she'd find out later and continued with what she was going to say. "The council wish to speak with you concerning our alliances."

"I asked not to be disturbed." Gaara muttered. Then he stood up, brushed down his clothes and placed himself in front of his sister. "Where is this meeting? In the usual room?"

"Usual," Temari replied. As Gaara walked out of the door, she turned to follow him but hesitated, curiosity of what _Gaara_ would keep hidden overpowering her. Gaara was usually so upfront about things. "I'll catch up to you." She called to her brother, who grunted in response and carried on down the hall. As soon as she heard faint footsteps from far away she darted for the drawer and opened it up, finding a letter from Konoha delivered directly to Gaara himself, not his title of the Kazekage.

_It must be from Sakura._ Temari smiled to herself. However, as she opened it she got the shock of her life. It was from Rock Lee! Gaara didn't have a girlfriend back in Konoha at all. He'd just made a friend. Except as she scanned it, one sentence kept ringing in her mind. '_Naruto-kun and Hinata-san are closer than ever - I do hope we can become like them.' _What did this mean? Were Gaara and Lee…?

No. The blonde shook her head. Her brother didn't truly understand love yet, let alone with another man, despite Kankuro and Kiba not hiding their feelings. A girlfriend may have been a possibility but a boyfriend like Rock Lee, the polar opposite of Gaara? No chance. She quickly put the letter back, closed the drawer and hurried to follow him to the meeting.

***

_Dear Lee,_

_I am not very good at writing letters, so this will be considerably shorter than your one to me, which I thank you for immediately. Temari and Kankuro are back with me, and I am content, but there is that strange feeling of being alone without you close by. Be careful on your mission. I know what you are like._

_Today I had a meeting with the elders discussing our alliances and we are selecting an official liaison between Suna and Konoha, and so are your Hokage I believe. You should step up and volunteer yourself for this as then we can see a lot more of each other. _

_In your letter you talked about Sakura a lot. Do you like her in more than a friendship way? I appear to recall Naruto saying something like this long ago about you protecting her with your life._

_Your squirrel plushie you gave me is on my un slept bed. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Gaara_

"Make sure no one other than Rock Lee of Konoha receives this letter," Gaara ordered a servant, handing it to her all sealed up in the envelope. "If I find someone else does it will be you that is held responsible. Now I have to get on with choosing the liaison for Suna to Konoha."

"No one but Lee-san will read this, Kazekage-sama." She bowed, then hesitated before adding, "I think it would interest you to know Temari-san is wanting to be it."

"Really? My sister?" Gaara murmured to himself. _As long as Lee is the liaison for Konoha, I don't care who does it for Suna._

***

"Just one hundred more punches Lee then finish off your day of training with a backward somersault and a salute!" Gai yelled to his pupil as he hit a chakra controlled punching post that moved and dodged around as Lee tried to land a punch. "Then in the evening we shall go out on the town to show off our better talents with all our youthful unique looks!"

Lee darted around, propelling his fist into the post whenever he found an opening that wasn't defended. He was wearing new weights, double the weight of his last ones and his speed wasn't quite up together yet so this was practice. He had come back from his successful mission to escort an important person through the Country of Rain to their village with Kiba and Sakura this morning and Gai had told him to train soon after with these new weights. As soon as he managed the one hundred he did a backwards flip, landed on both feet and saluted to his Sensei, sweat dripping from his temples. Gai sprang up and did his nice guy pose; Lee copied him and they both froze like that for a few moments, before a chuckle was heard from behind them.

It was Shizune, holding a few books and some documents and also a sealed envelope. "Tsunade-sama told me to give you this, Lee-san." She explained her presence and handed the envelope to the tired ninja. Then she turned to Gai and smiled. "Naruto-kun wanted to speak with you regarding yesterday's mission with your new pupils. You do train all of your pupils rather hard, don't you?" She giggled, then pulled at her hair and walked away with Gai, discussing how hard Tsunade trained her and Sakura.

"We shall still go out later, Lee!" Gai called.

Lee was too busy staring at the envelope in his hands to reply to Gai-sensei and opened it up in a flourish. It was indeed from Gaara. A smile hit his face and he felt warm inside.

After reading it, he quickly scribbled a note to his loved one, feeling slightly guilty it wasn't a proper letter, then hurried to find Naruto.

_Dear Gaara,_

_I will most definitely go and find Naruto-kun right now and try to get this job as the liaison between Konoha and Suna. If I do then we will be able to see each other far more often! This is brilliant news. I am sure Naruto-kun will let me do the job._

_Sakura-san is a close friend of mine, Gaara and nothing more. We grew up stronger ninja and bond over this is all!_

_With all my love (of the friendship and youth kind) yours, Lee._

It lay in Gaara's drawer among his other, longer, letter to him. Temari was selected as Suna's liaison to Konoha. Gaara wrote a letter informing Naruto and Tsunade of this, his elegant handwriting floating across the page effortlessly.

_To the Fifth and Sixth Hokage,_

_We have selected Temari for our liaison between our two villages. She will be coming to Konoha in a month's time to sort out any official business you require with us._

_For your liaison, I recommend Rock Lee. He is strong, reliable, loyal and fast at getting between Konoha and Suna. The fastest in the world, in fact. This is just my recommendation, which you do not have to follow, but it would improve our alliance if you did._

_Yours faithfully,_

_The Kazekage of Suna._

Tsunade finished reading the letter to Naruto and smiled. "The mission with Lee escorting him back was clearly a success, wasn't it?" She said.

Naruto looked thoughtful. "You know, he requested Lee for that too…"

The Fifth Hokage looked surprised, raising her eyebrows. "He did? Strange. Still, that's Gaara for you."

There was a knock on the door, a series of urgent knocks and as Naruto called for whoever it was to come in Lee burst through the door and shouted, "I'll be your liaison!"

"Err.." Naruto exchanged a glance with Tsunade. "Fuzzy Brows, how did you even know we were discussing this?"

The Jounin blushed. "Gaara-ku, er, Gaara-sama told me about it, and said I should offer myself up for the job. I agree with him. I want to do this so much! I want to help our alliance grow stronger."

"Well, I don't see why not." Tsunade shrugged. "The Kazekage requested you and you want to do it. Therefore you are hereby Konoha's link between Suna. You'll be going over there next month it seems as Temari is coming over here." She rubbed her forehead. "I need a drink."

Lee was too happy for words. He thanked the Hokage then ran out into the open streets of the village, deciding to jog around Konoha twice before changing to meet up with Gai later. There were only two things worrying Lee. He hadn't told his Sensei yet about he and Gaara. He'd have to at some point. And secondly, was Gaara going to be different the next time they met? His comment about Sakura was, well…a little odd. She was just a friend now.

However, most of his mind travelled back to the night he and Gaara spent together, and how he wanted that warm body in his arms again, just to feel complete.

**Author's Note: **_**PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPTER AFTER YOU'VE READ IT! Even if you are anonymous, I don't mind. I just need to know people are reading this still. Otherwise I'll be putting up chapters for nothing. So yes, review! Next chapter - do Lee and Gaara finally meet again? What rhymes with chess and begins with a Y? YES! **_


	8. Rendezvous

**Chapter Eight: Rendezvous**

_Here is chapter eight! Thank you for reviewing. Sorry it takes a long time, homework is really increasing plus it's my birthday October 4th__ and I am preparing for that. (: I suppose you must be wondering when IT is going to happen between Lee and Gaara. Well…I like developing my characters first. This is zapped to a month later, just so you know._

"Rock Lee-sama, welcome to Suna." The servant bowed low as they greeted the over excited Jounin that was the new liaison between Konoha and the Sand Village. "I'll show you to your room right away -"

"Just Lee! Just call me Lee." The man cried happily. His backpack was completely overflowing with items and in one hand was a large suitcase (mainly full of green spandex suits) that threatened to burst at any moment. Lee didn't seem out of breath at all, despite the fact he'd been running the last two thousand metres and declined the servant's offer to carry his bags as he followed them upstairs to his room.

He was excited to find his room was the same as before, on the same corridor as Gaara's, but noticed instead of it being a guest room it clearly had written on the door: 'Rock Lee' and the bed was much bigger and more comfortable. There was more space to pack his clothes away and he did so there and then, the servant trying to help but Lee swatting her away. He never had liked relying on hired help and felt in demeaning to the worker, even if it was their job. The packing away was all done in a matter of minutes and he put his suitcase under his bed. The backpack remained untouched.

"Where is Gaara-kun, er, Gaara-sama?" Lee asked. He sat down on his bed and lifted the backpack onto his lap.

"The Kazekage-sama is currently in an important meeting but I will inform him you have arrived. You can either stay here or feel free to roam around the building, or in our gardens, training grounds." The servant gestured widely with her arms. "Be sure to knock before entering a room, however, and dinner is at seven in the evening sharp. That is when Kazekage-sama expects his dinner and that is when it is served in the dining room. There's a map on your bedside table of this building if you get confused." She had clearly memorised all of this to say, and had said it very often to guests. Her greying hair was scraped back into a tight bun which she patted as she stalked out of the room, not waiting to hear Lee's response. The door clicked shut behind her and soft footsteps could be heard pacing away.

Lee didn't mind, he emptied out the contents of his backpack then shoved it under his bed. There was his owl plushie, which he tucked under his quilt, then his old weights incase he wanted to train for a particularly difficult move, a few breath mints (Lee had been eating them the whole journey more or less, worried what his breath would smell and, well, _taste_ like) and a bouquet of roses for Gaara.

He'd gotten them in the village before he arrived, and as he bought them the shopkeeper gave him a knowing smile, as roses immediately mean lover. Was he being too forward by giving roses? Would Gaara even appreciate them? It was silly, giving the great Gaara of the Desert roses. Years ago people would have thought you were asking to be killed. But now…

Well, if he didn't like them he would say so. Lee's mind travelled to Gaara angry, then passionate, then - he gasped and shook his head. It was not right disrespecting Gaara in his thoughts like this, even if he was his boyfriend.

"Lee!" Kankuro hovered in the doorway, a grin on his face. "How have you been, mate? Who are the roses for?" He walked in and picked them up, but failed to notice the tiny card, attached on the over side of the wrapping to hold the flowers in place. Which was fortunate as written on the inside was: _May our love bloom like this beautiful flowers, Gaara-kun! _Kankuro handed them to a blushing Lee. "Temari's not here you know." He said, then grinned to show he was joking. "Gaara is wanting to see you, he'll be over in his room in two minutes, and wants you there in five. Why I had to tell you this I don't know. He could have gotten a servant to, or did it himself."

"I am sorry, Kankuro-san." Lee burbled. "I will go to Gaara-kun immediately. You can get back to what you were doing. How are you?"

Kankuro raised an eyebrow. "I am fine. Training. You would know that. Anyway -" he turned to leave. "- Gaara told me in no polite terms I was to order everyone away from this corridor for the next few hours because he wanted to discuss something important with you."

Discuss something? Lee wondered what it could be. Maybe he'd had second thoughts? "Thank you, Kankuro-san. I am glad you are well." He waited a minute after Kankuro left, who was bemused with what the two could possibly talk about that was so important the corridor was to be abandoned but for them, and the fact it would take a few hours, then Lee quietly hurried to Gaara's room's door, the roses in his arms.

The door opened after Lee knocked twice and Gaara didn't waste time in dragging the Jounin inside and kicking the door shut.

"Gaara-kun!" Lee hugged the shorter man close for a few seconds, the red hair tickling his chin. "I got these for you." He broke the embrace, and held out the slightly bent roses to the surprised Kazekage.

"Roses," he said, taking them and sniffing them. "I can't smell anything."

"They signify love. Like our love." Lee chuckled. "They'd just been imported to the sand village this morning and cost a fortune but it is worth it for you."

There was a slight pause as they stared at each other. Then Gaara spoke, almost softly. "I want to try more with you."

"More?" It had happened in Lee's dreams, of course, dreams he didn't care repeat to anyone. But he wouldn't have ever asked this of Gaara. He would be content with just the loving stare of his turquoise eyes for the rest of his life.

"I was looking up sexual relationships between men in the library. Sex is mainly used for pleasure, though it is meant to be for procreation. But there are ways, for us, for pleasure." Gaara folded his arms. "Do you want this?"

"I-If you feel comfortable with it, Gaara-kun. Yes. I do." Lee was only being half honest. He wanted this more than anything. He wanted it all.

The roses were tossed aside and landed on the desk. Gaara closed the gap between the two men and kissed Lee roughly on the mouth, his tongue searching inside Lee's mouth for something he never quite found, but enjoyed running it around his teeth and dancing with Lee's tongue. The kiss was broken from the mouth but Gaara didn't stop there. On his toes, stretching upwards to reach Lee's forehead, he planted a layer of kisses down to Lee's jaw, then into his neck

"Gaara…" Lee breathed, his eyes closing, a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Rock Lee, with his 'sparkling youth'." Gaara smirked from his neck. "You have a mint flavour about you."

_Breath mints, _Lee thought, and found himself laughing.

Gaara nuzzled into the Jounin's neck closer, flicking his tongue to Lee's collar bone, travelling against it then pausing at the clothing. He didn't know how to do this, really. He was making it up on the spot. "Take off your clothes." Gaara ordered eventually with a gleam in his eye, waiting to see the body he had slept in the arms of.

The older man hesitated, chewing his lip. His mind flashed back to seven years ago, when he was only fourteen, and he was having a conversation with Gai Sensei.

_Neji was stood with just a towel around his hips, his taut stomach left on show, skin pale with no blemishes. Lee blushed beetroot red and turned around for privacy to Neji but he didn't mind. He threw the towel to the ground so he was naked and got dressed there and then. Lee felt like he has disrespected Neji as he had turned around too soon and saw…well, everything there was to see, then gasped and shut his eyes, stammering apologies. Again Neji didn't mind, he pulled on some trousers, tied his long dark hair into a ponytail and bid goodbye to Lee. That was when Gai Sensei walked in._

"_Lee, that mission went well but next time do not let your youthful enthusiasm get in the way of the proper work!" Gai yelled. His smile faltered when he saw the expression on Lee's face. "What is wrong?"_

"_I saw Neji-kun's…" Lee struggled to get the words out. "Gai Sensei, I have disrespected Neji-kun."_

_Gai didn't pause for breath as he answered his student's troubles. "There is no disrespect as Neji is not affected by this, Lee. You are both comrades and in the springtime of youth. It is no matter whether you are gay or straight!" He did pause here but just for a second. "Therefore as Neji is reciprocal to your feelings for him you can -"_

"_I don't have feelings for Neji-kun!" Lee gasped. "My heart belongs to Sakura-san. She will eventually see I am the one for her."_

"_Looks like I've got my wires crossed up." Gai roared with laughter. "Lee I was going to punish you for having underage sexual relationships!"_

_There wasn't much sex education for ninjas. Lee didn't even realise two males could have sex together. "How could that possibly happen, Gai Sensei? I thought sex was between a man and a woman?"_

_Obviously uncomfortable but never showing it to the pupil (Gai took this as a personal challenge) he explained exactly how to the startled young teenager._

_Lee couldn't look Neji in the face for weeks._

Now, the much older and wiser ninja let out a long breath, as if he had been holding it in for a long time. "Do you know what to do exactly, Gaara-kun?" He asked the Kazekage.

Gaara wrinkled his nose. "I've read the facts. I know the mechanics. Either you or I shove our penises into either your or my anus."

Not exactly the most touching sentence Gaara had spoken in the world, and Lee closed his eyes in embarrassment for a few seconds. "Well, yes." He tugged at his green suit. "But it is so much more than just that…that…action. I have never indulged in a sexual relationship before." Lee admitted shyly. "It is the ultimate bond of love and youth exploding with pleasure and life. It is only to be done with the one you love." The atmosphere turned serious. "I love you, Gaara-kun." Rock Lee stared into the Kazekage's eyes for a long time.

"I love you too, Lee, but I think am I getting what most people call 'horny' and I want you right now, so take off those clothes." There was a stern look on Gaara's face. "Or do I have to come and take them off myself?"

Despite wanting to have a deep and meaningful discussion about whether they were truly ready, and how they were going to go about doing it, and other such things, Lee knew Gaara wasn't the sort to go in for that, and what he wanted right then and there, he got. Plus maybe Lee was the tiniest bit 'horny' too.

"I think you'll have to take them off yourself." Lee smiled, and struck the nice guy pose. "I promise to be as much as you want me to be."

No response from Gaara, unless Lee counted the hands searching for the zip at the back of the suit.

***

"So my Sakura theory," said Temari, sipping coffee. "was incorrect. The letter was just from Rock Lee."

Shikamaru rested his head on his hands. "Maybe Lee and Gaara are together." He muttered, more to himself than Temari, who was still babbling away.

She paused for breath, then looked at her lover with a frown. "Did you say something?" She asked.

_If I tell the truth it shall be troublesome, _Shikamaru concluded, and proceeded to shrug at Temari. "No."

"Hmm. Okay. Anyway." Temari drank down the rest of her drink and sat back with a satisfied smile. "As I was saying…"

**Author's Note: **_**Next chapter, for those who like kinky goodness, it's what you've been waiting for! Reviews please. Might take a while to come out the next chapter, celebrating my birthday.**_


	9. Hold Me

**Chapter Nine: Hold Me**

Naruto knew as soon as Hinata walked into the room with a gigantic smile on her pretty young face. Her hands clutched her flat stomach and she nodded at her lover, the Hokage. It was hard to believe it was finally happening. They'd been trying for months and months, and were beginning to lose hope. Tsunade did a check and said it may be difficult for Hinata but they should keep trying and that they did. It had paid off, finally. Naruto scooped the woman into his arms and kissed her passionately. He couldn't wait to scream it from the rooftops. Who thought he'd be so happy by something like this, impatient, silly little Naruto with his blonde spiky hair and wide grin, but a knack for changing people's lives.

Hinata was pregnant.

"You're absolutely sure? You took more than one test?" Naruto checked before he could grow anymore excited. That was all his gentle soul mate needed, a crash like that after being so high.

"Oh, Naruto-kun." Her voice was almost like it was years ago, shy and high pitched, filled with nerves. "I took the test this morning and when it said positive I…I couldn't believe it. I tried to find you but found Tsunade instead and I asked her to check for me just incase it was wrong, but -" Her eyes filled with tears. "It was right. We're having a baby!"

There was just minutes of squeals and yells of happiness; Naruto spun Hinata right round and kissed her stomach holding the tiny human life form that was a part of both of them. Already in his head Naruto was thinking of a baby girl with Byakugan eyes and blonde hair, or a boy with the spirit of Naruto and Hinata's hair. There were so many possibilities, but one thing in particular rang in Naruto's mind. He put Hinata down and stroked her cheek; it was soft and flushed from the excitement.

"I can't believe it." Naruto whispered. "Did Tsunade say whether it was a boy or a girl? Byakugan or none Byakugan?"

"Apparently our child will possess the Byakugan no matter what." Hinata smiled. "Which is good news for my father at any rate, he would hate it if I had a child without our Bloodline Limit. I'll have to call in on him later." Despite Hinata's father disowning her to Kurenai when she was a young girl, Hinata held no grudge against him anymore and often visited him, though she wouldn't trust him again, and was especially disappointed when the only time he visited her was when the news about Naruto becoming the Hokage arrived as she was dating an important person. "As for a girl or a boy…" She flicked her hair from her face and shrugged apologetically. "It is too soon to tell."

The Hokage realised he didn't care which gender his child was going to be. But he did care about one thing and put a reminder in his mind to check out the ring shop later.

He knew exactly the sort of ring she would love.

***

Ino lay out on her balcony, letting the warm heat of the sun tan her skin, her long cream coloured hair spread across the pillow her head was resting on. She was wearing a purple bikini and a relaxing smile on her face. Her eyes were closed so she just listened to the sounds around her; birds singing, civilians chattering, even once in a while a ninja jumping to and from buildings. It was a perfect day for a day off of work due to an injured leg from the last mission she was on. Although she was a trained medical ninja, Ino often found herself perfecting Ninjutsu and was sent out on missions as a fighter rather than a healer. She had become strong in the past few years, no one could argue that, not even her rival, Sakura. While Ino grew, Sakura seemed to have come to a standstill.

She lay back and thought about her friends. Everyone had grown so much. The immature annoying Naruto she once knew was gone, replaced with a strong, reliable leader and the previously shy Hinata right by his side. She had become strong too. They all had. It was still hard to believe Sasuke had died, the missing piece of the Rookie Nine. However, good had come from it. Konoha was even better than before, thanks to Naruto. And the others, including herself, and Choji.

When he proposed it was almost unreal, like she could not believe how happy she could possibly be. But it had happened, they were engaged, they were getting married soon. Sakura was proud of her, she could tell, though the pink haired Chuunin had never actually uttered these words.

"Choji!" Ino called, opening her eyes and sitting up. She took a sip from her iced tea. When he didn't emerge at once she called him again.

"What?" The large man appeared in the doorway, dressed up and ready to go on a mission. He'd become a Jounin only a few weeks ago and was making the most of having much higher ranked missions. There were crisp crumbs around his mouth, spoiling the warrior effect slightly, as was the packet of them in his hand. "You know Shikamaru, Sai, Shino and I have to leave for the mission right about now. I said goodbye earlier."

It was true, he had bid his fiancée goodbye before she came out to sunbathe, but Ino wasn't satisfied. She got up and stood on her toes so she was eye-to-eye with Choji, and licked the crumbs from his face before kissing him on the mouth softly. "Stay safe, don't do anything Shino wouldn't." Ino winked. It was a joke between them that Shino was the most dull of all of them, rarely taking a risk. Choji planted one last peck on Ino's forehead, then disappeared from view, off to his mission with his friends.

Ino resumed her spot on the sun bed and shut her eyes once more. Yes…life for her and her friends was turning out fine.

***

"Sorry, Sakura, Tsunade-sama is busy training Shizune today." Moegi shrugged. Her ginger hair was still pulled into it's original style of two high bunches. She worked in the Hokage building when she wasn't on a mission and today she had to tell the agitated pink haired woman the Fifth wouldn't see her.

"Training Shizune?!" Sakura repeated in disbelief. "Since when has Shizune needed training from Tsunade after all these years? Moegi." She placed both hands on the desk. "I needed her to help me perfect this new medical technique I've been working on."

"Well, I don't know where she is so I cannot help you." Moegi was like a younger Sakura, she could be fierce when she wanted to. "So if you don't mind I have work to do until a mission calls for the sassiest Kunoichi in Konoha." Although her tone was joking, she did think there was some shred of truth in that. Sakura rolled her eyes and gave up.

_Usually I'd have someone to talk to, but Naruto is with Hinata, Lee is in Suna, Tsunade is busy and Sai is on a mission with Choji right about now. _Sakura thought with a frown. She didn't want to intrude on Naruto and felt herself missing Lee quite a bit. _He'd be training right now, I'd know where to find him. I wonder what he's doing right now._ The Chuunin chuckled. _Training I bet, or annoying some poor Ninja in Suna that he has to get straight to work as the liaison. Nothing thrilling._

***

Lee lay back against the wall, his clothes long since removed, Gaara kissing him roughly, harder with each new touch. _I cannot believe I am doing this. _The Jounin managed to think before he felt a hand travel down his chest towards his member. It wasn't fair for Lee to be naked like this while Gaara remained in clothes.

"Gaara-kun…" Lee murmured. "It is not fair I can not see you, too, you know."

"Then see me." Gaara hissed in his ear, and in a matter of seconds the robes were gone and they were both unclothed, kissing against the cold wall. Lee hugged the shorter man tightly and lead him over to the bed, where they both lay on top of it, on each other, not daring to let their mouths leave a part of the other's skin.

"I do not have any -" Lee stopped. In truth he was still very nervous. This was both their first times. "Gaara." He said gently. "We don't have -"

"I do." The Kazekage told him. He lifted himself from Lee and casually placed a robe over himself and left the room, leaving the door wide open. Quickly hiding himself under the covers Lee didn't know what he would do if someone walked in on Gaara and himself having…well. It just was horrible enough thinking about it. The servant barging in on them lying together was bad enough. Lee wondered for a moment where she was now in the building, and whether she ever thought about it. Probably not - Gaara was pretty scary and she wouldn't want to think she was disobeying him, even in her own thoughts.

The Kazekage returned with a circular tub of lubrication. "Kankuro has condoms but we won't need one," Gaara shrugged. "I want you inside me." The last sentence was almost a command, Gaara's eyes focusing on Lee's with such intensity the Jounin nodded, swallowing nervously.

Gaara lay on his front on the bed while Lee scooped some lube onto his fingers and placed one hand on Gaara's right ass cheek. "I am not sure if I am doing this right, Gaara-kun." He mumbled, rather unlike the normal Lee who was up for anything. But he'd never done something like this before. Gai Sensei could only teach him so far. Slipping a finger into the redhead's tight ass he felt him tense slightly.

"Am I hurting you?" Lee asked, removing his finger at once. He didn't want to feel pleasure if his lover was only feeling pain.

"It always hurts first time. That's what it said in the book." Gaara murmured, eyes half closed. "A woman wrote that but it must be the same for men aswell. But if you're good…it should feel fantastic too."

The coldness of the lube made Gaara shiver, but as Lee increased to two, and then three fingers Gaara gasped out in pain. Lee hesitated, his eyebrows on saddened slants. He didn't _want_ to hurt Gaara, even if that was supposed to happen.

His mind flashed back to their rematch, before it all happened, but while he was having those thoughts he thought could never come true. Although Lee hadn't wanted to hurt Gaara badly back then, he had wanted to beat him, but now…the thought of Gaara in pain actually made the black haired man feel ill.

"Lee hurry up." Gaara's voice was whispery, like he could barely get the words out. Once Lee had finished preparing he removed his fingers and paused at the point of no going back.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lee asked, putting his arms around Gaara's pale stomach, feeling the rigid muscles.

The younger man, although wanting this badly, was nervous aswell but didn't care to show it. Kankuro had told him, when he had gotten together with Kiba, everything was amazing. Gaara wanted to know this amazing feeling almost everyone had with a lover. He was sure Lee did too. "Just be -" He struggled for a second.

"Gentle?" Lee promised he would be. With just a few seconds of silence, the sounds of outside travelling through the window, there was peace. Then Lee edged forward slightly more, lubricating himself and some more in Gaara's ass, then pushed himself in.

To say it only felt good for Lee was an understatement, but he would not allow him to enjoy himself until he was sure Gaara was happy too. He kept his movements slow until the man underneath let out a groan of frustration.

"What is it, Gaara-kun?" Lee inquired, only just managing to bring the words past his lips as waves of pleasure rolled over him.

"M-more…" Gaara breathed, his hands clenching the sheets tightly. The pain he felt was almost unbearable, like something slippery ripping inside of him. But to feel his everything inside of him was more feeling than the pain, in a wonderful way. He never wanted it to end, his breath was already growing ragged. "Faster Lee. H-Harder…deep…deeper…don't stop…don't…"

Slightly surprised but acting on Gaara's command, Lee proceeded, and found himself growing more and more excited. The feeling as he connected with Gaara was so immense and powerful, the sensation just filling him with pure ecstasy. He wasn't sure how Gaara was feeling but let out a low moan of joy. Seconds later Gaara echoed him.

Climax approaching, Lee felt desperate to hang on for Gaara. He saw it as a challenge. _This is like nothing I've ever experienced before. _The Jounin thought between gasps, and moans. _I thought I knew happiness but I was wrong._

With Lee going faster with each thrust Gaara felt on top of the stars, but sore with pleasure. He felt himself building up and knew what was coming, something he'd only heard about before. He couldn't fight it, it felt too good…this was love. This was what all those songs were about. This. This moment. Two people in love connected in pure enthrallment.

"L-Lee I'm going to-!" Gaara cried out. The sheets were covered in the liquid not a second too soon as Lee came in the Kazekage. He removed himself from Gaara then collapsed on top of him, exhausted, panting for breath.

Gaara turned around and stroked Lee's cheek. Lee rested his head on Gaara's chest, but a thought kept troubling him.

"Did I hurt you badly?" He said quietly.

"Yes." It was the truth, even with the lubrication it had hurt Gaara more than he had thought. Lee shut his eyes in shame. "But I would not have changed a second of that. The pain made it real, made me want you more."

This would usually just be something a lover would say to another to spare their feelings, but Gaara was not that sort of person. He told the truth, no matter how blunt or unreasonable it may be. Lee lifted his head with immense effort (he was tired out) and kissed Gaara's lips, then nose, then forehead, then sank down into the pillow and smiled. _He looks so peaceful when he smiles, so relaxed and care-free. Is what we had just then only going to get better?_ Gaara thought, recalling a line from a book: 'Each time is just better and more pleasurable than the last.'

"Gaara?" Lee was on the brink of sleep, sweat sticking to him with the smell of sex. He needed a shower but was too comfortable.

"What is it, Lee?" Gaara turned his head to face him.

"I love you."

That would never grow old, no matter how many times the ninja said those three little words. They would just keep growing into something more. It was still hard to believe someone could possibly love Gaara of the Desert so much that they had made love to him, held him, kissed him. "I love you too." Gaara replied, but Lee was already asleep.

The Kazekage took a shower in the ensuite in Lee's room, then dressed himself back into some robes (not the ones crumpled on the floor) and tidied away the tossed aside clothes so no one could stumble upon them. He tucked Lee up in his bed in an almost motherly way and kissed his lips, tasting the faintest hint of a breath mint. Making sure everything in the room was in order, he walked out of the room and closed the door behind Lee and went to find Kankuro to see what needed doing today.

He found his brother on his own at his desk, writing some notes on something or other. Kankuro glanced up and raised an eyebrow.

"What was all that about then? The business with Rock Lee?"

"Just what you said. The business with Rock Lee. None of your business so you don't need to know, yet." The 'yet' slipped out before Gaara could help it but he shrugged. "Lee is currently resting and does not wish to be disturbed. What work is there for me to do?"

"Here." Kankuro handed a case to Gaara, his curiosity struggling to get the better of him. He'd find out one day.

It was after Gaara had said goodbye and was walking away that Kankuro realised what was bugging him about his little brother just then.

Gaara was wearing different robes than before.

**Author's Note:** **_Finally managed to beat Chapter Four on the longest chapter so far! I realised after starting I was no good at writing lemons so it was sort of minus some details I had in mind at first. Managed to get this up the day before my birthday as I was suddenly inspired. If you're wondering about the Hinata, Naruto, Ino, Choji, Sakura, Moegi bits it was just to cut away from the main plot like I've done before and give you some things that are going on in Konoha at the moment. Review this chapter please! Thanks. Chapter Ten up next, might take a while, but then I always say that, heh. What happens in it? Does Kankuro grow a little too curious and try to find out what's going on…?_**


	10. Uncovered

**Chapter Ten: Uncovered**

_Thanks for the reviews, and for the happy birthday! Enjoy Chapter Ten. Sorry it took an absolute age to come out._

Lee woke up with a start, sitting straight up in bed and realising he had no clothes on. He checked the time and found it was nine in the morning, the morning after the night before. Except it was not the night when that had happened…had Lee really slept all this time? All the built up exhaustion from training and travelling here, then _Gaara_ and it was no wonder. A servant must have came in at some point - the room was immaculate and there was a jumpsuit laid out for Lee on the end of the bed. He put it on hurriedly, then made his bed and opened the window. The gentle breeze fluttered in, some sand grains being carried by the wind. Slipping on his orange leg warmers after fastening his newer weights onto his legs and pulling on the first pair of shoes he saw, Lee walked out of his room and down the hallway. He wondered what exactly he was supposed to do today.

Gaara, already in his office, sat writing a letter to the Raikage regarding some important matters. He ran a hand through his messed up hair and rubbed his eyes. Last night he had managed an hour's sleep, which was pretty good considering most nights he just lay awake, the dark rings under his eyes getting worse. There was a cup of coffee on a placemat on his desk, a cactus, the pieces of paper he was writing on and a few folders, that was all. And it was a large desk. There were three knocks on the door and Gaara grunted to let them know they could enter the room.

"Gaara-kun?" It was Lee, and the moment Gaara heard his serious yet sweet voice he walked over and planted a kiss on Lee's chest.

"So you're finally awake." said Gaara, sitting back down again. "I was beginning to wonder just how long a person can be asleep for, normally."

Lee chuckled. "My apologies. I was just wondering what work I was supposed to do today. As the liaison?" He added the last part quickly as Gaara's eyes gleamed.

"Nothing. I see no need for a liaison when the bond between Suna and Konoha is as strong as it is." Gaara shrugged. "You can do what you like. I only chose you for this job so I would be able to see you."

Lee was a little disappointed. He expected lots of hard work so he could more Gai Sensei proud with his accomplishments. There seemed to be nothing to do according to Gaara and now he was at a loss. He wasn't to go back to Konoha for another week. He could go training…_Yes! I shall train in Gaara's training grounds so eventually I will be as strong as him! _

"I'll see you later." Gaara's tone seemed ominous. He waved Lee away with his right hand. "Don't train too hard, Lee."

_How did he -? _Lee smiled. He was too easy to read. Of _course_ he'd be going training. "Later, Gaara-kun." He proceeded to dash from the room, almost colliding with Kankuro who was about to knock on the door, and had caught the last snip of the conversation. _Don't train too hard? Gaara-kun? _Kankuro thought with a puzzled expression. _Since when did Lee drop the sama? And since when did Gaara care about Lee's training?_

***

Of course, the ANBU hired to guard the Kazekage at all times knew what was going on. They were never more than ten metres away, and always had sight of Gaara, due to one of the four hired having Byakugan. So while Lee and Gaara thought they were keeping their relationship on the quiet, four other people knew, three men and a woman, but as all were trained ANBU they wouldn't just tell everyone of this. It would be kept to themselves.

They were sitting on a tree not far from the Kazekage's bedroom window, the window itself closed but the curtains wide open. So far Gaara had just been sitting on his bed as if waiting for someone.

"Rock Lee-san?" One of the men inquired to the group. He smiled wryly. "I cannot believe the Kazekage-sama has actually…" He gestured wildly to indicate what he meant.

Hyuuga Yaniko frowned in his direction. "It really isn't our business what the Kazekage-sama or Rock Lee-san do, as long as it isn't illegal, or dangerous to the Kazekage-sama." At this point from the window, Lee had walked inside, a little anxiously, and the curtains were swiftly closed after that. She focused her Byakugan for a few seconds to find the two just talking, staring at each other, the distance between slowly being shortened by Gaara.

Another ANBU adjusted his mask slightly. "What are they doing?" He was the most senior, called himself Kazuo while acting as ANBU and like Yaniko, took his work very seriously, unlike the other two men who tried to have some fun every now and then.

"Just talking then when I looked, likely to lead to more." She replied, twirling her red hair with her fingers.

"Watching the Kazekage-sama is not exactly interesting, is it?" The final ANBU commented.

Kazuo _looked_ at him. "It's not supposed to be interesting. It's a job, and an honour, to be chosen to guard someone as important as the Kazekage-sama by the Elders and Advisors. You should respect this."

"It's not like the most powerful person in the village would need protecting is all I'm arguing." The accused shrugged nonchalantly. "Perhaps Rock Lee-san could -"

"Wait!" Yaniko snapped, looking in on the two with Byakugan. Lee and Gaara were undressed on the bed, kissing passionately, but she wasn't interested in that, it was past the wall, Kankuro making his way towards them. "Kankuro-san is on his way to their door, and the Kazekage-sama has not informed his brother of his relationship with Rock Lee-san. We need to prevent something happening."

"I'll go." The ANBU complaining about the disinterest of guarding Gaara stated, then vanished into the darkness, and appeared in the hallway in front of Kankuro, who looked more than surprised.

***

_Something is going on here, and I don't think it's what Temari said about Gaara dating Sakura. Unless Lee is acting as a messenger between them? That would make some sense, the guy is always willing to help out with things. Is that what the 'business with Lee' was about yesterday? But they've both disappeared now…it can't be about Temari's idea. The best thing to do, is just to confront my little brother. _Kankuro was dealing with his thoughts as he paced down the hall towards Gaara's room, deciding he wouldn't take his sister's sneaky approach but just face him head on. Gaara was never one to avoid an outright question. Perhaps Lee would be there too - he'd be easier to break if Gaara truly was hiding something.

Just as he was about to turn to open the door leading to Gaara's bedroom where he knew his brother was located (he could hear muffled voices and assumed Lee was in there with him) a member of the ANBU appeared in front of him.

"The Kazekage-sama is busy, Kankuro-san." The man told Kankuro, who had leaped back in shock.

"Busy doing what?" Kankuro regained his composure and asked back, defiantly. He was sick of all this secretive stuff. "If you don't tell me, I'll walk in and find out."

"Kankuro-san -" Pushed out of the way by the painted man, the ANBU member couldn't complete his sentence and didn't have the time to stop the door from being pushed open, and the sight in front of him being seen by Kankuro aswell.

Lee and Gaara, naked, with Lee about to lube Gaara up.

***

_This is not happening. _This was the thought that every single person in the room at that moment thought, aside from Gaara, who was more along the lines of: _Finally_. Lee dived under the covers to protect his privacy, and quickly put the lid back on the tub of lube and hid it under the covers along with his naked body. Gaara held the quilt around him too but didn't wear the same shocked expression as everyone else. The ANBU quickly departed, leaving the damage done.

Kankuro stood there with his mouth open, trying to speak. Of all the things he thought of…_this_, was not one of them. In a million years. The business yesterday…were they -?! "YOU TWO?" He eventually shouted in shock. "Gaara - what are you -?"

"Say something negative about Lee and I will not be responsible for my actions." Gaara's voice was cold. He frowned. "Kankuro, do not try to stop this. It won't work. I love him." The words slipped past so easily, as if it were something Gaara had understood his entire life. Lee huddled next to him, his whole body turning crimson.

"I -" The eldest stopped. What was he trying to say? This was probably the biggest surprise he'd received in his entire life. But the easiness of Gaara's love for Lee seemed even more. The blushing Ninja next to his brother meant this much? He was a strong fighter, a loyal friend, but a good lover? Kankuro quickly shook the image from his mind, but found after the initial shock he didn't feel any anger. It was more…relief.

_Relief?_ Kankuro thought, staring at Gaara and Lee. _Gaara has finally found someone. No matter who this was, it shouldn't matter. He is happy now, truly happy with Lee. Who am I to dispute this? _He managed a shaky grin at the two of them, and said jokily, "I hope this doesn't mean you want to double date with Kiba and I. Oh I wonder what Temari is going to say." He chuckled, remembering his sister's reaction to his confession. Then a question struck him. "How long has this…been going on? Is this a long term thing?"

"Not long," Lee gabbled quickly. His usual confidence was faltering. "Just before I left for Konoha after escorting Gaara-kun back, Kankuro-san. I apologise we did not tell you. I was not sure if I was ready for everyone's reactions." He sat up a little straighter and met Kankuro's gaze. "But this is of course long-term, if not forever. I love Gaara-kun."

Kankuro knew he was serious, and at this, the fact he knew Lee would not abandon Gaara and cause chaos, he could relax, at least for a little while.

"So," he started to back out of the room, his mind beginning to erase the images he saw that horrified him. He didn't want to walk in on _that_ again, that was for sure. "I, er, will leave you to it. Are you going to tell other people now that I know? Temari? What about the village?" Although now in the hall, he hovered outside the door due to his last question. How was the village going to react to this? "But anyway. I really don't want to be in this room any longer than I have to." Kankuro hurriedly closed the door, not waiting for a reply, then strode away.

There was a moment of silence. Then Gaara sighed and grinned. "Now, where were we?"

Lee stared at his lover in amazement. He burst out laughing. Maybe people knowing wouldn't be so bad after all, if things were just going to remain the same as they were.

Still, they were going to have to get a lock on that door.

***

Sakura lay back on her bed with a frown on her face and sighed. There was something just not right. She kept thinking about Lee. He was her friend, one of her best friends, but these were not platonic thoughts. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of Naruto's success, but her mind travelled to what a baby of her and Lee would look like. _Arghh. What's wrong with me? _Sakura exhaled in frustration and stared up at her white ceiling. _Am I really missing Lee this much? _

She thought of Lee, and got that warm feeling you did when you liked someone. In more than a friendship way.

"Oh, great." Sakura groaned. "I've probably blown my chance with Lee now…"

Catapulting upwards, she ran to check her calendar. Lee was coming back in a week. He wouldn't refuse her, would he? She'd been thinking about Lee a lot lately and it was all adding up to this. Had he been thinking about her at all…?

Of course he had…she was his first 'love'.

***

The servants stared at each other, hardly able to believe what they had just seen. The Kazekage had just walked pass, humming a tinkly sounding tune, a big, smug, smile on his face.

"You saw that right?" One maid asked, blinking.

"What's made him so happy?" Another inquired.

Behind them, Kankuro snorted knowingly.

**Author's Note: **_**Okay, I am so sorry this has taken so long but I am suffering from Writer's Block at the moment. Not sure what to make of this chapter. Reviews please! **_


	11. Open Mouthed

**Chapter Eleven: Open Mouthed**

"Lee is due back today, isn't he?" Tsunade asked Naruto as Shizune gave them paperwork to stamp. She gulped down some coffee, wishing it were alcohol, then continued with her work. "He's been going to the Sand Village a lot." The blonde noted glaring at her student as she brought in more things to mark.

Naruto smiled. "We'll have to be careful the Sand don't try and keep him. Sakura's been missing him a lot. I'm sure she'll be pleased to see him."

For the last week or so, the Hokage had noticed, Sakura had seemed different. Always asking about Lee, wondering when he was going to be home, and had she cut her hair nicely. Some old jealousy hit Naruto, from long ago, when he used to be in love with Sakura before Hinata opened his eyes. It was hard back then to think of Sakura loving Sasuke, while he loved her, but it was not meant to be. Of course, Naruto would not have it any other way now. He was going to be a father - perhaps to the Seventh Hokage. That was a thought he'd had for a while. But, of course, whenever he thought of the term Seventh Hokage, his mind travelled back to the Fourth Ninja War. That was where the future Seventh Hokage had died.

_Konohamaru lay on the ground with the smallest of smiles on his face, his hair escaping from it's usual style and falling across his cheeks. There was blood seeping from his mouth, trickling down his chin and onto Moegi's hands as she tried to heal him. The Ninja's right eye was closed, destroyed by a blow from Kisame's sword. It was raining heavily and the night was young. All around sounds of fighting could be heard, screams, yells, clashes of swords and kunai. Udon kept a lookout for enemies spotting them, but none came, almost respecting the moment for their group's leader. While Udon had become the Chuunin first, Konohamaru was far better at motivating the group._

"_Udon…" Konohamaru whispered, his voice struggling to get the words out._

"_Don't speak!" Moegi snapped, trying her best to still heal him, but she was not much of a medical ninja. "Stay still. You'll be fine, you'll see."_

_Udon ignored the Kunoichi and knelt beside his best friend. "What is it?"_

"_Never…give…up." Konohamaru murmured, his left eye starting to close. "That is our way…our way…of the Ninja. Like Naruto. Help - Naruto." He smiled. He knew this was the end for him - but for the others, they would fight on and succeed, he just knew it. "Look after…Moegi. Love you - Moegi."_

_He coughed, more blood spilling from his lips. His eyes closed and he passed away with a smile on his face. The strongest of the three, but he jumped in first all the time. _

_Moegi burst into tears and lay on his body, sobbing. Udon was expressionless, but inside his feelings were exploding with depression. What would they do now? How would they be able to get through this without Konohamaru? "We have to survive." Udon said suddenly. Moegi stopped crying and stared at the Chuunin. "For Konohamaru. He would want us to fight for Konoha, his namesake. Come on, Moegi. We can come back for him afterwards."_

_She nodded; she knew he was right. But this wasn't the sort of loss you could ever forget._

_***_

_They found Naruto, later, while they were running through the battlefield. He did not seem harmed at all, and he was alone. He spotted them and grinned easily in the midst of all of this chaos. Then he knew something wasn't right, and his smile faded. "Where is Konohamaru?" He asked._

_Moegi closed her eyes and shook her head. Naruto understood. "I see." He said in a low voice. "Then let's do what we can to make sure he did not die for nothing."_

"Naruto?" Shizune jolted the Hokage from his thoughts. "What is the matter?"

"I was just thinking of Konohamaru," Naruto answered. "In a way, it seems equal to the loss of Sasuke. For me, anyway."

"And Jiraiya." Tsunade added quietly. There was a silence. Not an awkward one - more a peaceful silence so they could mourn those they had lost. No one ever truly recovered from the deaths of friends, comrades; but they lived on with their own lives, keeping the memories with them.

***

Choji still hadn't returned from his mission with the others, and frankly, Ino was worried about him. She knew he was strong, and the mission would take a while, but this didn't relieve her stress. However, when Sakura came calling for her, she was happy for someone to talk to and agreed to walk around the village with her as she had a problem she needed discussing with a friend.

They walked their usual path they did when they were children, before their love for Sasuke got in the way of their friendship. (Though Ino never said this to Sakura, she did believe while her pink haired friend truly loved the man, for her it was more a childhood crush). As a leaf fell from a branch, and Sakura caught it, she closed her eyes and wished for a second, before letting it drop to the ground gracefully.

"What is it you wanted to discuss? Nothing has happened to Choji has it?" Ino's voice rose in panic. She flicked her hair out of her face and took Sakura by the shoulders. "What's happened?"

"Ino, nothing!" The Chuunin wriggled free of her friend's grasp. "I am talking about myself here. And my feelings for a certain someone." Sakura chewed her lip. "I never realised before I started to miss them."

The blonde stopped in her tracks and spoke what she was going to say very carefully. "Sakura…I'm very flattered but you know I'm not gay."

"Ahh! INO!" Sakura burst into peals of laughter, lightening her mood slightly. "Not you, okay?" Her laughter stopped like a light switch being turned off. "It's…Lee."

"_Lee?_!" Ino gasped, relieved it wasn't her. It made sense - in a way. _After years of Lee chasing Sakura it looks like they'll finally be together. She's healed from Sasuke and is ready for a proper relationship. _"I must say, Forehead Girl, you've made your mind up pretty suddenly."

"Well, Ino-Pig," Sakura pulled a face, sticking out her tongue childishly. Then her face grew serious and she sat down on the grass next to the path they were walking on. Ino copied her. "I've been thinking about him a lot and how we would always talk while he was training, and I'd try to convince him to come out with me. Then he's been in Suna so much these past few months and I haven't had enough time with him and that's when I realised, just days ago, what I truly felt for him."

"There's only one thing you can do." Ino shrugged.

"Accept I've rejected him too much?" Sakura sighed. "I was so obsessed with…Sasuke, I couldn't see Lee for the amazing loyal, kind, man he is."

"No. Tell him how you feel, Sakura."

_How I feel…_

***

_Kiba,_

_I cannot believe it! You won't, when you read this, but I'm going to say it anyway - Gaara has finally found someone. A boyfriend. This would be news enough, but you will gasp out loud at who it is. It's LEE. Rock Lee. Completely crazy about training, all food and that Gai man? Him. _

_Sorry to blast you with this news but I had to tell someone. You aren't to tell anyone else though, right? I know what you're like._

_Love Kankuro._

Kiba stared in complete shock at the letter in his hands. _Lee?! Gaara?!_ This couldn't be true. Kankuro must have been playing a joke on him. That was it. But it seemed such an odd thing to joke about…Gaara having a relationship. Especially with Lee! It had to be true. When was Lee due back? Kiba calculated for a few seconds, and realised it was today. He had to ask him. 'Anyone else' surely didn't mean Lee himself? Of course not.

Akamaru barked indignantly and Kiba explained the letter. The dog almost looked like he wanted to laugh. "Come on, let's go see Naruto and see if Lee is back yet, Akamaru!" Kiba yelled excitedly, and ran from his room, Akamaru following behind him happily.

They reached Naruto's office and barged in without knocking, causing the Hokage, who was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the desk and his eyes closed, to jump out of his seat in shock and form a fighting stance until Akamaru leaped upon him, licking his face and Naruto realised who it was. Pushing the overexcited dog off of him, Naruto stood up, and, seeing the hopeful look on Kiba's face, grinned. "What is it?" He asked, settling himself back in his chair, but sat up properly.

"Is Lee back?" Kiba blurted out, not really answering Naruto's question, more asking his own. "There's something I really need to talk to him about."

Instantly nosy, Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Oh really? And what is this about?"

Liking to have one up on his friend, Kiba shrugged innocently. "None of your business, _Hokage_-sama, Sir."

"As your Hokage there should be no secrets kept against me!" Naruto persisted. "Or I might just issue you the most boring mission I can find."

"Not gonna persuade me with that, Naruto." Kiba laughed. "Just answer. When is Lee back? Today, right? But when?"

_I'll get whatever this is from Lee later. I'll call it 'Hokage top secret business' - Fuzzy Brows will give in immediately, especially if I mention it's training somehow. _Naruto decided. "Knowing Lee, in the next few hours, but it's meant to be this evening."

"Thanks!" And before Naruto could ask one more time what this was about, Kiba was gone, Akamaru following closely behind.

***

The entrance to Konoha was just a few hundred metres away, Lee could see it. He broke into a light jog, not so much in a rush as he was the last time he was coming back from Suna. It had only been a few days, but he missed Gaara already. This relationship still seemed surreal, even if he was almost ready to tell everyone about the two of them. Maybe if it was known by everyone he could start to get used to it, the fact someone else loved him more than themselves. Lee's mind flashed back to his departure from Suna days before, and the proposition Gaara had bestowed upon him, leaving him with a difficult decision.

"_Don't go." Gaara said, nuzzling into the taller man. The two were in his office, bidding goodbye. He broke from the embrace suddenly and looked upwards so they made eye contact. "I want you to stay here."_

"_Gaara-kun, you know I have to return to Konoha!" Lee smiled. "But we shall keep in contact through letters and one of us will visit the other's village, likely me to you, so there is no need to be devastated of my leaving. Think of it as training to be a better person for when we meet again!"_

"You_ make me a better person. Without you I feel…strange." Gaara frowned. "Work as a Suna Ninja, Lee. Transfer from Konoha to here, with me."_

"_What?" Lee was taken aback. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind before._

"_Think about it, then." The Kazekage disliked his immediate response and kissed Lee on the lips briefly, then sat back at his desk. "You can tell me what decide in a letter."_

_The Jounin hesitated. "I…my home is there. I do not know what to think, Gaara-kun. I have to leave now but, I love you."_

_While it was a more of an irritated grunt, Lee still heard and knew Gaara meant it. "I love you too."_

Now, Lee crossed the entrance to Konoha, waving at the gate ninjas and continued down the path to report to Naruto about his job, which he realised he didn't really do. Liaisons weren't really that needed in Suna, after all. Then he realised he had not spoken to Gai Sensei in ages, and made sure to take a little detour and see him. Which was when it struck Lee if he moved to Suna, while being with Gaara, he'd miss his most trusted friend. Plus everyone else.

But for Gaara.

"LEE! FINALLY!"

The voice startled the Leaf but he recognised it immediately - it was Kiba, who was rushing towards him. _Why is he in such an excitement to see me?_ Lee wondered, but didn't have time to ask out loud as the man spoke hurriedly.

"Kankuro told me everything! You sly dog! I didn't know you had it in you. I didn't know you were even _gay_, I mean, you chased Sakura for -"

"You - you know?!" Lee spluttered in shock. Out of everything, _this_ was not what he had been expecting.

"Well. Yeah." Kiba flashed a grin. "But you and Gaara! I just cannot believe it."

A gasp was heard from behind them. Lee and Kiba turned around quickly to find themselves face to face with Ino, who widened her eyes and ran off before anyone could speak.

"Well, it's all out in the open now." Kiba shrugged.

The usually optimistic about things Lee groaned in frustration. "What do you mean?" He asked.

The brown haired ninja laughed. "Ino is the village gossip, you know that." He walked away, shaking his head, still chuckling. "I only wanted to know if it was true, and clearly your reaction is enough. Looks like everyone will know within the hour."

***

Sakura waited in Lee's room. She would surprise him when he came in with a romantic kiss. He'd melt before her very eyes and she could be with him.

Everything was about to happen.

But not in the way everyone thought.

**Author's Note: **_**REVIEW PLEASE! Next Chapter - An attack?!**_


	12. Ambushed

**Chapter Twelve: Ambushed**

_Target: The Kazekage._

_How We Get Him: Rock Lee._

Four Ninja were stood outside the entrance to Konoha. Each were wearing a mask of some sort over their faces and all were blonde but one, who had long straight red hair pulled into a high ponytail. There were two men and two women, all skilled Ninja. Somehow they knew of the relationship between Lee and Gaara, even though none of them had entered Konoha.

"Are you ready?" One asked in a low voice. His mask covered his entire face and was white, which red markings on the right eye in the shape of a circle. He was the tallest by far, and on his back were two blades crossing one another.

"Of course, Juro." The second man answered irritably. "We are just waiting on Yuna." His blonde hair was the mask over his face, the length travelling to just past his shoulders and covering the right side of his face. "She will use her technique to figure out where he is."

Yuna, from the direction of Juro's question, was the redheaded woman, who had her eyes closed and hands pressed together, concentrating. She had black cloth across her nose, covering it and her mouth. Her eyes were big and the colour of Byakugan, though she didn't seem to possess it. The final Ninja, whose hair was so blonde it was almost white, short and straight, not even reaching her neck, had her left eye covered by what seemed to be a piece of a red china mask, with white swirls over it.

The four were silent for a few seconds. Then Yuna opened her eyes and spoke. "I know where he is. Kiyomi -" The other woman glanced in Yuna's direction. "Juro, Yin. It is time."

"Rock Lee of Konoha," Yin, the long haired man whispered. "We are coming to get you."

***

It wasn't Ino's fault everyone knew. She only told Choji, excited he was finally back from his mission. And it didn't help Kiba had ended up telling Shino, Hinata and Sai. It was her fault they told Shikamaru and Naruto, who told just about everyone they could. Which wasn't Sakura. No one knew where she was and Ino was hoping someone would tell her about Lee before she made a fool of herself. Though she probably wouldn't believe them. This was the biggest relationship shock since…well, since Kiba and Kankuro she guessed.

Ino saw Lee about to step into the building leading to his apartment and waved over at him. "Hey! Lee!"

"Ino…" Lee was polite as always, and smiled at the attractive blonde. "I was just going to change, and then see Gai Sensei." It dawned on him the man might already know the news he was going to tell him before everyone else and cringed slightly. "Would you care to join me?"

She placed a hand on his muscular arm. "I just wanted to let you know I'm happy for you, okay? So is Choji. We're glad you've found someone. But Sakura doesn't know yet…" Ino chewed her lip. "About you and Gaara, I mean. She might -"

Another voice cut her off. "LEE MY YOUTHFUL STUDENT!" It was Gai Sensei. He strode over to them with a big smile on his face, and ruffled Lee's hair fondly. "How was your time in Suna? I hope you worked to the best of your ability!"

"I did, Gai Sensei!" Lee yelped. He had to tell him now, before Ino c-

SLAM! Gai punched Lee in the face, sending him flying backwards into Ino, and the two landed in a heap on the dusty path. "Wrong!" Gai shouted. "You can always do better! There is no limit to your ability, Lee!"

"What the hell?!" Ino screeched. "My outfit is completely ruined. Why would you punch Lee for that?"

"I am a stern master, Ino." Gai told her solemnly, but he laughed afterwards. "Lee knows!"

Lee, who had just picked himself up, and helped Ino up, brushed the dust from his suit and looked at Gai Sensei anxiously. Gai, sensing his anxiety, frowned and gestured at Ino to leave them for a while.

"Are you going to tell Gai Sensei about…?" Ino asked, surprisingly tactful and keeping quiet. She nodded. "I'll talk to you later about Sakura." She decided, and walked away.

There was a pause in conversation, the two staring at each other for a long time. A leaf broke from a nearby tree and fluttered past; if Lee caught it he would tell Gai everything, he decided. If he dropped it, it meant he already knew. Jumping high, Lee clasped the leaf in both hands and landed on the ground on both feet. He had to tell his Sensei, now the second most important man in his life. "Gai Sensei, there is something I have to tell you." Lee began, quietly, his eyes at the floor.

"I know." Gai's tone was serious. "As I was coming to meet you, plenty people came up to me and asked if I knew about you. I pretended I did and walked away quickly to avoid them telling me, as I wanted you to tell me yourself. What is it? It must be big, almost every Ninja I've come across is talking about it in hushed voices."

"I…I…" Lee had to just say it. "I'm _gay_, Gai Sensei."

The similar looking but older man blinked, then grinned. "Is that all? You have found that your path of love and passion is that towards men? But why all the fuss about this in the village? I thought you'd done something terrible!"

"That's not all." Lee sighed. Though inside, he was happy his Sensei did not mind his homosexuality. He had been worried about that even more than telling him _who_ he had a relationship with - this was the part everyone was shocked about, and talking about. After all, this was the Kazekage of Suna, Sabaku no Gaara, whose heart was colder than ice and did not understand love in the slightest. But Lee had melted the frozen heart and made Gaara fall in love with him.

"It's Gaara-kun. I love him. He loves me."

***

Despite the amount of stares he was going to get, Lee agreed to Gai's request of a group of them eating out later in their favourite restaurant, the same restaurant Sakura had requested he go to before any of this happened. After telling Gai about Gaara after a few shocked reactions, and a long discussion of everything that had happened, while having a run around Konoha, Lee felt completely satisfied. They had spotted Shino and Hinata along the way, who told Lee they were happy for him, and as was Naruto, Sai, all of their friends. He decided he did not care what other Ninjas thought as long as his friends stood by him. It was going to be an interesting night, and after bidding goodbye to Gai he let himself into his apartment with a relieved sigh. Everything was going to be fine.

Which was why he was surprised, to say the least, when he entered his bedroom and found Sakura fast asleep on his bed.

"Sakura-san!" Lee gasped.

"Ehh?" The Chuunin sat up blearily, rubbing her eyes. Then she saw Lee and pink patches appeared on her cheeks to match her hair. "Lee!"

"How come you are here?" Lee asked, sitting himself on his bed next to her. "How long have you been waiting? I apologise for obviously keeping you here a long time. In fact…" Well, he had told Gai Sensei, and now all that was left was Sakura, seeing as it was clear everyone else knew. For a second he closed his eyes in horror at the thought of Neji's reaction. Then he shook his head. Neji would be fine about it, like everyone else. "I have something to tell you." Lee eventually said lamely.

Sakura beamed. He was going to ask her out again! But not if she got there first… "I have something to tell you too!" She nodded enthusiastically. "I noticed it after you went, and now you're back I know what I am about to say is certain. I lo-"

But she didn't get to finish her sentence as at that second there was a loud knock on the door. When the two of them just stared at the door for a few moments the knocking carried on, persistent, growing louder and louder. Lee shrugged apologetically to Sakura and went to answer the door, itching a polite smile onto his face for whoever it was. Neji or Ten Ten, maybe?

However, there was a tall blonde man Lee had never seen before glaring down at him with a smirk. Only the left hand side of his face was on show and there was no headband marking where they were from. Sakura appeared from behind Lee and frowned. "Who are you?" She asked. "You're not from around here."

"Shh." As if from nowhere another masked blonde man appeared from behind them. Before Lee had time to react he felt himself growing weaker and weaker as the man in front of him put a hand on his shoulder. "It's Lee we want. Not you." The other man snarled to Sakura, who gasped at the sight of Lee. He put his hand on her arm.

Lee broke away from the grasp held on him and lifted his arm up in his fighting stance, despite his weakened state. That was all Sakura remembered before everything around her went black.

***

"Naruto! We have an emergency!" Sakura ran past Moegi who was sitting at the front desk and barged into Naruto's office, who was talking to Shizune about something or other. They both looked up in surprise at the sight of Sakura. "These two Ninja appeared at Lee's apartment! I don't remember - something happened and I woke on the floor but I came rushing here. Lee's gone! They must have taken him, I -"

"Whoa, wait, slow down, Sakura-Chan." Naruto's eyes widened. "You're saying Lee was kidnapped by Ninja? Unidentified Ninja?"

"There's no time to slow down! We have to go and get Lee back right now!" Sakura cried, slamming her fist down on the desk. "Don't you understand? They were both wearing masks. Well, one I could be able to identify if I saw him again but will I if we don't act now? Get Shikamaru! Sai! Yes, get Sai. He can fly in the air. Naruto, this is Lee-san we're talking about."

Naruto could see how serious this was. _Fuzzy Brows…why would they take you?_ He thought. "Shizune." He said. The dark haired woman nodded to signal her attention. "Get Sai, Shikamaru and Neji. Tell them it is an emergency."

She nodded again and scuttled from the room.

Sakura held clumps of her hair and tugged at them desperately. "They need to get here fast. I'm going with them, Naruto. I have to. Lee…"

"God knows how Gaara will react." Naruto groaned. "He'll probably go out there himself looking for him. I just hope he doesn't get extremely angry." He looked out of the window and saw the rain, the wind, that had suddenly picked up in the past hour or so. It seemed there was a storm coming. "They can't have gotten far, wherever they are going. Look at the weather. I'll send Sai in the air, Neji can cast Byakugan and Shikamaru will think something up. It'll be fine, Sakura. This is Lee. He never goes down without a fight!"

_Gaara? Why is he suddenly going on about Gaara? Lee being the liaison can't make that much of an impact on Suna. _The woman thought with a sigh. She couldn't stand still and kept pacing around the room until Shizune appeared about ten minutes later with the three requested.

Naruto informed them of the situation and they were to set out immediately.

"I cannot believe Lee wouldn't fight these two Ninja off. It seems so unreal. They must be very strong." Neji pointed out as the four of them left Konoha.

"Which makes me think they must have used some sort of technique. If Sakura blanked out, perhaps the same thing was used on Lee aswell?" Shikamaru added, frowning. He was thinking about everything. "That must be what it is. But why would they want _Lee_?"

Sai stepped way from them and took out his paint brush and a scroll. "_Nimpuu, sora tobu tori." _A large eagle burst from the scroll and Sai hopped on it's back. He smiled. "I will find Lee-kun. Neji-kun, are you joining me in the air or are you staying on the ground?" The huge bird was drawn so finely with Sai's artistic skills, it looked almost like a real one.

"I will come with you. It will be easier to see from above." Neji chuckled in spite of everything. "Well, it'll be faster, anyway."

"Why don't we all just go in the air? It will be far simpler than having to waste time looking for each other if one of us finds Lee." Shikamaru offered practically. "Sai, you can create another ink bird for us, can't you?"

"Of course." Sai did so, then the four got up onto their birds. Sakura with Shikamaru, and Neji with Sai. They rose from the ground and flew into the air, soaring through the sky, but there was no time to enjoy the wondrous feeling of the wind breezing through their faces or the fact they were flying, as each were on red alert for Lee and the enemy nin. Neji's Byakugan was on at all times.

Back in Konoha, Naruto gazed out of his window. He couldn't deal with it if anything horrible happened to Lee. He didn't think Sakura could either. And he knew Gaara wouldn't. The Hokage just had to hope the four he had sent out could find the passionate comrade, before it was too late.

***

_Where…am I? What happened? Sakura! _Lee tried to open his eyes. There seemed to be something across them, like a blindfold. He tried to move his arms, which were around his back, but they were bound by what seemed to be heavy rope, but when Lee tried to break free it was clear there was something that made the rope practically unbreakable. There was movement around him and he appeared to be in a room of some sort; he could feel the rough carpet beneath him.

Lee resorted to listening, keeping his breathing deep and slow so they would still think he was unconscious - whatever he was. This was too confusing.

"We should expect the answer from Gaara by tomorrow, with the time and place where to meet him." This was a man's voice. One of the men Lee saw before he woke up here? He tried to remember a face but only saw the masks both were wearing.

"He might not come alone…he might bring his brother and sister along." Another voice, a woman this time.

"We can deal with them." A man again, but a different one. The other man of the two kidnappers? What was going on? Why had they taken Lee? Why were they talking about Gaara?

There was a pause. Lee strained to listen. A door opened and light, quick footsteps pattered into the room. The door slammed shut, and it took all Lee had in him not to jump from the sudden shock of loud noise.

"He's awake." The woman muttered. "Kiyomi, why are you so late? What took you so long?"

"He's awake?" One of the men repeated in surprise. "Why didn't you say so earlier, Yuna?" Lee felt the presence of this man straight in front of him. "Welcome back, Rock Lee."

Now, Lee spoke.

"What are you doing? Who are you? What do you know? Why have I been taken? Why are you talking about Gaara-kun?" He asked in a rush, puzzled by everything.

There was a short burst of laughter from the man in front of him. "Shall I answer him?" Silence, but clearly someone had nodded as he continued with, "Great. I am talking to you in this rented hotel room. I am Yin, not that you'd have heard of me. I know everything between you and Gaara, if that is what you are insinuating. You have been taken so we can achieve the Kazekage in our plan. Which answers why we are talking about him."

"What plan?" _I cannot believe this. Plan? Gaara-kun…this will all be my fault. I have to stop this. What would Gai Sensei do? _Lee's mind drew a blank. It was hard to think in this situation.

Someone else crouched down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "To assassinate the Kazekage, what else?" This person, the other man, hissed in Lee's ear. "Now. Enough questions. You can fall unconscious again now."

"NO!" Lee gasped. _Gaara-kun! I will protect you with all my strength. I cannot live without you…you are the best thing in my life._ The Jounin felt weaker by the second. _I will…protect you, because I…love…you._

Yuna smiled. "He's unconscious again. Good work, Juro."

Kiyomi raised an eyebrow. She hadn't said a word to either of the three, but what she wanted to tell them passed across without words.

"Now," Yin sat onto a chair and shifted until he was comfortable. "Where were we?"

***

_To the Kazekage of Suna,_

_All you need to do is attach your reply to the bird that this message was delivered to you on. All you need to know is that we have Rock Lee. Reply to this with a time and place for us to meet. Bring no one but yourself. If you follow these orders Rock Lee will be safe, and free to go._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yin, Yuna, Juro and Kiyomi._

_We give our names because we aren't afraid._

**Author's Note: **_**Er, what?! What's going on here? Will Lee be okay? What will Gaara do? Who are these mysterious four people?**_


	13. Unlucky For Some

**Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky For Some**

_Lee._

Gaara leant against the tree about fifty miles from Suna, the designated meeting point, with his arms folded, his thoughts practically only on Lee. Where was he? What was going on? These questions should have been running through the Kazekage's head. But they weren't. His old anger was rising again. It was hard to fight it when he didn't want to at all. Besides from his lover, all Gaara could think of was:

_I am going to kill the people who have taken Lee._

***

Hinata placed a hand on her stomach and smiled. She was worried for Lee, of course, but she wasn't close to him and her mind was on the baby. A boy or a girl? What would they call him or her? She was lying in bed, her hair spread across her pillow, eyes on the ceiling. She turned on her side and looked at the sleeping Naruto, who was frowning in his sleep and clenching his hair. Hinata knew her partner well enough to know this meant he was stressed out.

She left him lying there and dressed into a simple dress, with comfortable shoes and went out into Konoha. As she walked through the town, looking at the citizens, Hinata wondered where she would be if she had taken a different path. Then she thought of her cousin, Neji, off to search for his best friend, who was somewhere no one knew.

Why did everything happen to Konoha?

"Hinata?"

It was Ten Ten, startling Hinata from her thoughts. The brunette jogged up to Hinata and walked along with her. There was a pause before anyone said anything. Then Ten Ten spoke. "I just wondered if Naruto had any feedback from Neji, about Lee." She mumbled.

"Yes." Hinata's voice was quiet too, but clear. "There's been no sighting. But they're going to keep searching."

"I see." Ten Ten sighed. "I hope they can find him. I haven't seen him in weeks." Her eyes watered. "I never got to say I was happy for him and Gaara. I can't just stand here doing nothing!"

"What else can you do? Naruto put some of our best Ninja out there." Hinata told her. "Lee is strong too, remember. That last update was sent three days ago, who knows where they are now, perhaps they've found Lee and are making their way back. Shikamaru will have thought of something, Neji would have found him, Sai can use his Ninjutsu Art to take Lee back safely, and Sakura will heal any injuries…he might have."

Ten Ten sighed again. "I should be out there with them. Why didn't I go with them?"

"You didn't know." Hinata answered softly.

"Oh, Lee. Please be okay."

***

The four of them were in a cheap economy inn room. They were tired after a full three days and two nights of being on their feet they had to rest. Sakura took the bed and was asleep, her face tear stained. The other three were still awake, Sai busy writing a message to Naruto updating him and Neji and Shikamaru discussing everything they had found.

"I feel like we're so close. They can't have gotten much farther than us." Shikamaru frowned. "They might be very powerful but everyone needs to rest at some point."

"You're right. I mean, that person in the village said she'd seen five Ninja, one wearing green and unconscious." Neji put his chin in his hands. "What on earth could they want with Lee? He's never put a foot wrong."

The shadow manipulator sat in his thinking position. After only a minute he opened his eyes and gasped. "Of course!"

"What is it?" Neji asked, alarmed.

"What these people want. What else could it be? Somehow, they must know about Gaara's relationship with Lee." Shikamaru replied, nodding seriously. "They must be using Lee to get to Gaara. I need to warn them, tell Temari -"

"Oh, Gaara has probably already had contact with them." Sai spoke, smiling. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were going to meet soon."

Shikamaru groaned. "This is so troublesome. We have to find them somehow. They _were_ here, if that villager Neji spoke to was right. This would have been much easier if Kiba had come with us. He knows the scent of Lee and would have been able to follow it."

"Well, we can't do much now. We'll ask the inn manager tomorrow if they by any chance stayed here. For now, all we can do is sleep." Neji shrugged. "Lee will be found. He won't be harmed, at any rate, if what you are saying is right Shikamaru."

Sai nodded, and lay down on the only other bed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in then out. "Goodnight. One of you will have to sleep on the floor while the other takes the sofa."

"You take it," said Neji to Shikamaru. "I'm going to walk around for a bit in this town, try to find stuff out."

"Hmm. Fine." Shikamaru lay across the sofa and closed his eyes. "But if you find anything come and wake us up."

"I will." Neji promised, then walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him so as not to wake Sakura.

The night was bare, no wind, no sound from a distant animal or person. The moon hung in the sky like a rounded opal and trees towered above some buildings, their shadows like cages to the ground. Neji found a perfectly smooth pebble on the ground and threw it up into the night sky. No mark was made of course, and it fell straight back onto the grass. As he walked further he begin to hear some speech, hurried footsteps and slightly vague moans. What was this?

The Ninja cast Byakugan and looked forward about two hundred metres or so and almost shouted in shock at the sight that he saw with his eyes.

It was Lee. Lee! With four other Ninja, two men, two women. He was barely awake, which explained the vague moans, and being carried by one of the men. They were in a rush and talking quickly as they strode. Neji didn't know what to do. Shikamaru said that he should come back if he found anything - but what if he lost sight of them again? He couldn't let that chance happen. Running to catch up, Neji stopped for a second and scrawled a message on a tree to his team mates. They'd find it. Then he carried on trailing them, trying to keep his location secret, keeping a hundred metres behind them at all times, trying to be as silent as possible. It was hard, it being the dead of the night, as every sound was rare in this peaceful town at night.

"It'll take us a day or so to get there. We can't be slow, or the Kazekage will think we aren't being serious." The redheaded woman said. She stopped suddenly and peered behind, almost catching Neji, who managed to hide himself before she could see. "Is someone there?" She raised her voice.

Neji kept quiet, his heart thudding. The man with long hair snorted. "Come on, Yuna, you're being paranoid. It's probably just an animal. And even if it is a person, this isn't a Ninja Village."

"Don't be so naïve." She hissed back. "We're Ninja, aren't we? Now look, he's waking up again. Come on, we've got to move, we have to be there in two days minimum."

"Do you think Gaara will be true to his word about it being only him there waiting for us?" Juro asked with a frown. He absentmindedly reached behind and adjusted the blades attached to his back so they crossed each other symmetrically. "Perhaps it will be a trap."

"It is a trap for him." Yin spoke in a quiet, calm tone. "Everyone knows Sabaku no Gaara is blunt with the truth. He would not lie at all."

"I don't know…" Juro shrugged. "He's a Kazekage. We cannot underestimate him, even with the power of the four of us."

There was some irritated snaps of protest about someone even considering a hint of failure in their carefully structured plan, then a silence, then Lee appeared to open his eyes sleepily before shutting them again. This caused the group to move faster, swifter. Neji followed them, though he kept slightly more behind than he had, relying on his Byakugan to lead the way to them.

He had to keep up with them and know where they were going.

***

The morning sun shone through the curtains of the inn room and Sakura yawned as she stretched, sitting up with a smile, forgetting her troubles for that one perfect moment. Then she looked around and remembered where she was. Sai was curled up on the other bed, almost like a cat in the way he slept, except hugging his knees tightly. Shikamaru slept like he was awake, with a serious expression on his face and completely straight, no sudden jerking movements. It was funny to see them asleep, which hadn't seen much before. They looked almost vulnerable, though Sakura was sure if she so much as approached Sai he would snap awake and be on guard for a sudden attack. Perhaps Shikamaru was a very heavy sleeper. He was certainly lazy. The Chuunin was about to wake them up when she looked at the carpeted floor and realised with a gasp Neji wasn't there. He wasn't in the room. In the toilet? But the door leading to it was wide open. This wasn't good. Where had he gone?

_Don't be so silly, Sakura. He'll have gone for a morning walk, _she forced herself to think, though her heart was thudding. Could those Ninja that had taken Lee got to him? But surely they would have taken Sai, herself and Shikamaru? What if something terrible had happened to him? _No, come on. He'll have gone for a morning stroll or something, tried to find out about Lee's whereabouts. Neji isn't stupid. He wouldn't do anything to put himself in danger._

That's what Sakura told herself, but after walking outside of the inn, looking around warily and not seeing Neji anyway, she was slightly worried. There was a forest just past a river almost straight in front of her, and a long path that led to different places running through the trees. It didn't look like the path had been stepped on for a while. There was only one thing she could do now; run back and tell Shikamaru and Sai so the three of them could look for him. Where on earth could he have gone? What was he playing out? _Don't say we have to look for two people now! Lee is our priority, our mission, Neji…how could you be so selfish as to do something stupid and run off somewhere?_ Sakura didn't really mean her thoughts, she realised, as she barged straight back into her inn room, slamming the door behind her, but she just _had_ to make sure Lee was safe. The thought of him out there alone with strange Ninja, was almost ripping her apart. She never even got to tell him how she felt. She should have gone with her earlier plan of just kissing him immediately when he entered…but oh, of course, she had fallen asleep waiting for him.

There was no time to dwell on such things. Sakura had to act on the now. "Shikamaru! Sai!" She shouted. "Neji isn't here! Where is he? What's going on?"

"What?" Sai had jumped up immediately at the sudden noise and frowned. "I have no idea. I overheard Shikamaru and Neji talking about Neji going for a walk…but this was last night."

The laziest of them groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily. "Neji hasn't come back? That bastard found something and didn't come back didn't he. Ugh. Troublesome. Well, I guess we'll have to try and sense which direction he went." Shikamaru, suddenly awake, stood up and brushed down his clothes with a sigh. "Let's not lose any more numbers. From now on we stick together no matter what, right?"

The other nodded solemnly. After checking out and putting some money in a member of staff's hand, they set out with refreshed and no longer tired bodies. Sakura mentioned the path through the forest so they took it. After a while of walking they came across a tree with scratching across it and realised at once who must have wrote that message. It read:

_Lee was here. Following him. No time to come back for you, Shikamaru - understand. Looks like they're headed to Suna. Try and catch up, they're walking fast but not running. He's with four other Ninja, two women, two men. All blonde but one with red hair, all have their faces masked in someway. That should be enough to recognise them. They haven't seen me but if they do remember Lee is our priority, our mission. _

Sakura immediately felt guilty as this was what she had been thinking only minutes beforehand. Shikamaru traced the clearly hastily scratched letters and clenched his right fist. Then he turned round to Sai and Sakura with a collected smile.

"We can catch up. If they're on ground and we're in the air, if they're only walking fast and we're soaring through the skies, we'll catch up. They may have about a thirteen hour advantage but we _will_ catch up to them. Got it?" He said in a determined tone. Clearly he wasn't one to be left behind. "Sai," he added with a knowing look.

The artist conjured up two large creatures with wings, and sat on his own on one and waited until Shikamaru and Sakura were on the second before commanding them to fly upwards and through the air, high above the trees.

It was almost twenty hours later when they caught up, but they did. It was a few hours until sunrise so sight up above wasn't the best, but it didn't matter as below was basically desert. Then, in the distance, it was Sai that spotted them first, and as they flew closer he could see them in detail.

There were six Ninja, all of them walking, one dressed in a green spandex suit and bowl cut with their head down, and two men either side of him, each blonde, wearing a mask of some sort. There was a redheaded woman far in front, and a white-blonde woman trailing behind. Up ahead was a single blossom tree, a completely unique sight in the middle of a desert to have a tree. For a second Sai thought it was a mirage, but no, the group were clearly heading towards it aswell, and a figure was sitting cross legged underneath the tree with a gourd on his back. It was Gaara. It was Neji that was the shock.

And then Sakura gasped, because she noticed it too. He was walking with the white-blonde haired Kunoichi, held captive like Lee. They swooped past them and landed next to the blossom tree, next to Gaara. The art creatures evaporated and the three of them were left standing there, an immensely shocked Gaara standing up instantly and blinking like _he_ was seeing a mirage, not them.

"What are _you_ doing here?" He demanded immediately, brushing sand off his clothing. "They'll think I've hired backup. Leave. This doesn't concern you."

"Unfortunately, it does." Shikamaru stated bleakly. "Neji and Lee are Konoha Ninja. It is our mission to bring Lee back to Konoha safely."

The strangers with Lee and Neji stopped about twenty metres from them and for a second everyone just stared each other out, the wind whistling in their ears, the moon hanging high in the sky in crescent form. Then Neji was pushed forward to the front of their group, breaking the still and silent spell. His expression was tired and uncertain for a brief second, but being Neji he put on a look of contentment, as if he did not mind the situation he and Lee were currently in, on that side of sand.

"We do not want whoever this is, but Lee threatened suicide if we harmed him. Take him back." The redheaded woman snarled, tossing her hair. "I'm Yuna. And Kazekage, if we give you Lee, you promise to come with us."

"Don't Gaara!" Lee shouted. "It's a trap - mmf!" Kiyomi's grip against Lee, covering his mouth, was surprisingly strong. Very strong. This was Lee, and he couldn't break free of her grasp. What sort of Chakra based hold was this? Not being able to mold Chakra himself, Lee gave up on understanding it years ago.

Neji started to walk over to the other side, then without even hesitating for a split second span round and pummelled a Gentle Fist into Yuna's chest before she had time to react, hitting at full force three more times for maximum effect. It was a technique he'd mastered only a year or so ago; it never failed - it hit people straight in the heart. He jumped down to safety next to Sakura, breathing heavily. There was only one negative thing from it: almost all of Neji's Chakra was now drained.

It worked, though. Yuna screeched in pain, and her mouth opened in shock. She sank to her knees and her face hit the sand. A tiny trail of blood dripped from her mouth, trailing down her chin. The wind blew her hair around so it spread out across the sand, covering any other blood that may have spilled.

The attack was so sudden, so quick, such a shock, that no one reacted for a second. Then Juro reached back and brought his two blades to the front, holding each tightly, in his fighting stance. Kiyomi stayed still holding Rock Lee and Yin leaped backwards and placed his hands together, forming some sort of seal no one recognised before. Gaara was in his element here; he threw a wall of sand at the two men, making sure Lee was no where in his attack range. Shikamaru didn't have a shadow to work with - there was still an hour or more until the sun rose up and took over from the moon. So he used this time to think of a strategy while Gaara and Sai fought, and Sakura protected himself and Neji.

And so they fought. And all the while falling from the strange tree that managed to pick up all the scare water it could to survive, dropped petals to the ground, the blossoming of sand.

**Author's Note: **_**Dragged the title in there! Haha! Next chapter what on earth is the outcome of the fight going to be? PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews make my world go round for this story!**_


	14. Split Decision

**Chapter Fourteen: Split Decision**

They had been fighting for hours but it was far from over. The sun was high in the sky, and the shadow of the tree was just enough for Shikamaru. He managed to capture Kiyomi, but caught Lee in the process so had to release her. It was harder trying to get the two men as they were darting around, attacking and defending themselves. Sai and Gaara were fighting with full pelt, and Gaara managed to trap Juro in a sand coffin. As he raised his fist and crushed him to death, his mind jolted back to that servant girl, her screams echoed this man's. The Kazekage shook his head to blot the thought and proceeded. There were only two left now.

"Sakura, go and help them fight." Neji demanded. He alerted his Byakugan and peered at the woman holding Lee in her strong grasp. While he struggled, she stood still as a rock. For hours. "I need to try and get to that woman somehow."

"I -" _I what? What can I do? I'm a medical ninja. _Sakura heaved a great sigh. Then she realised. Sai and Gaara were busy with the man, Shikamaru was trying to catch him in his shadow, and Neji of course was trying to get to that woman. Who was actually easy to get to, if you thought about it. And Sakura did have her tremendous strength. That was all the thought she need. The Chuunin stood from her kneeling position towards Neji and ran towards Lee and the woman, bringing her fist back to load a strong punch.

"Kiyomi!" Yin yelled. "Watch - Arghh!" He leaped backwards to escape a wall of sand. This wasn't good. Juro was right, though of course they didn't realise there would be backup. This wasn't part of the deal. _Wait,_ he thought with a smirk. _Lee is the trick. What have I been playing at? _He placed his hands together and formed the first seal he had done hours before. Before, he hadn't acted on it. Now, he would. "_Soutei Doragon!_" Yin shouted towards Lee. From the sky a tornado erupted. Kiyomi vanished from her place behind the Leaf Ninja, who stood in amazement for a few seconds, then began to run over to Gaara. But the tornado was only for him, and it swept him up. After it disappeared Lee was thrown to the ground with strange lightning binds around his arms, clinging them to his sides. Sakura was left to run into nothing and pummelled her fist into the sand, causing a shake in the ground. _This is hopeless, _she thought. _Lee needs help! But what can I do?_

"What are they?" Gaara asked, appearing at Lee's side. He knelt down and helped Lee to rest upon himself.

"Powerful chakra ties. With each minute passing they get tighter, until they cut straight through the person bound." Yin explained with a calm smile. "You didn't follow what we asked, you brought Konoha Ninja here. The deal's off. We'll kill all of you. No games now."

"It appears to me you are the one with two down. I did not bring these Ninja here, they brought themselves." Gaara ran a hand through Lee's hair. "It also appears to me you won't let these ties go, and the only way to get them to break is to kill you. Which I am very willing to do." He stood up, arms folded. "You can leave now after freeing Lee and nothing more will be done. Or you can stay and be foolish enough to die."

"I've only lost a sensor and a blade master." Yin replied coldly. Then he smiled and widened his eyes.

Sai sucked in his breath. "This is a genjutsu. Don't look in to his eyes."

Meanwhile Lee felt himself growing frustrated. There he was, leaning on Gaara, bound by some Jutsu and basically helpless. This wasn't who he was. He had to act! But to break this would require opening the gates, and he hadn't planned on doing that as it was a Forbidden Technique that required permission from Gai Sensei. Though Gai wasn't really his Sensei anymore, just a senior ninja he had a close relationship with. He still found himself being trained by him though, daily, and that's when Gaara's earlier proposal before the enemy ninja arrived about his staying in Suna. Then he made his decision. What he was going to do after this about that, and of course now. There was no other option.

"Gaara-kun, please help me to stand up." Lee murmured. "And then keep away from the enemy."

"What?" The Kazekage picked his lover up so he was standing on his own two feet. Gaara looked up into Lee's eyes. He was always so much shorter than him; Lee could even ruffle his hair on occasions when he felt extra fond of the redhead. "Lee, what are you doing?"

Yin had since abandoned his genjutsu attempt and was blocking himself from Sai's attacks. Shikamaru carried on trying to catch him in his shadow. Neji and Sakura looked at Kiyomi, who was only dodging Shikamaru's shadow and not doing much else. Gaara stepped towards the two observers but looked back at Lee, concerned. "Lee, what are you doing?" He repeated.

"Gaara-kun…" Konoha's Green Beast chuckled daintily, his laugh quite different from his usual self. "Do not worry yourself about me. I will be fine with you fine." He tried to break from his bound state one last time, but to no avail. "Worth one last try! Gai Sensei, I am going to have to use this technique. Gaara-kun." Lee stared at the younger man. "You've done enough now. I have to do this to prove I am not weak."

_What is he doing?! What is he playing at? _"Lee!" Gaara scowled. "Just what are you planning to do?!"

That was when he knew what technique it was, as the Chakra began to build around the Leaf Ninja. Lee opened his eyes after screwing them shut for a second and shouted, "_First Gate, Opening Gate - release!"_ It was only after the Third Gate did the bind break and Lee was off like a shot, speeding around the area faster than sound, too fast for everyone to see where he was going. Yin was dragged into the Reverse Lotus and slammed onto the Sand at incredible speed.

Shikamaru took this chance as everyone stared at the scene to shoot his shadow at the woman and caught her in it. Result! "Got you," he whispered. He ran up to her, Sai following. "Look. Give this up." He told her, rather calmly for the situation going on behind them, with Lee up to Fifth Gate. In all Lee's training, he'd only reached the Morning Peacock, the Sixth Gate. Yin couldn't do anything with Lee's speed so unchallenged.

Kiyomi smiled pleasantly. The shadow was slowly growing tighter and tighter, reaching around her neck, but she showed no discomfort.

"We'll take her in for questioning back in Konoha." Shikamaru decided. "I've managed to hold my shadow for twenty minutes before after months of strict training. That should be enough to drain her energy so she can't escape."

"Lee!" Sakura yelled. "That's enough!" In answer, Lee performed the Morning Peacock on Yin, who fell to the ground limp; silent. It was done for him, and Lee calmed down, back to his usual self. He looked at his legs and smiled wearily.

"I'm still wearing my weights. That's a first." The spandex wearing man realised with a grin. Yin was struggling to breathe on the ground next to him and Lee bent over him. "I don't want to kill you, but I will for the sake of protecting Gaara-kun." He said in a low voice, sighing deeply.

Which was when Kiyomi laughed. It was a high, tinkly sound, not suited to the current situation. She flicked her hair back and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A clone?!" Shikamaru gasped, whirling around.

From the shadow of the tree, the real Kunoichi rose from the darkness and took out a kunai, wrapping her arm around Sakura's neck, placing the blade to her skin. "If you kill Yin, I will kill her." Kiyomi's voice was light, but it was obvious she was deadly serious. "If you move towards me, I will kill her without hesitation. Of course, all this for the Kazekage. If I kill her, this death will be enough for me." Under her breath, she added, "For now."

"I don't understand." Neji stood up, rubbing his forehead. "Why do you _want_ to harm the Kazekage? What has he ever done to you?"

Kiyomi's expression turned to anger. "Because he killed my sister, that's why." The silence that greeted her from this sentence made her rage more. "She was no harm to anyone! She wasn't a Ninja like me, she chose the simple life, so she wouldn't get hurt. She worked in the building with Gaara, she was his servant. Her name was _Mila._" She spat out the last word with such venom at Gaara. "Remember her by any chance?"

_Mila…that girl a few months ago? That day I lost it…? _Gaara screwed up his face in regret. _That was their sister? Why did I do that? She woke Lee up, drove him away. Or did she? What was I doing? Who was I? When was this? _The memory of her scream was all that rang in Gaara's mind. The others began to protest his innocence.

"I'm sure that was back when Gaara was disorientated with where his life was heading. He is a better man now." This was surprisingly from Sai, who was not part of the Konoha Nine back then. "There is no need to fight for something like this. Let go of your feelings -"

"This was only a few months ago." Kiyomi stated bleakly. "I was walking through to meet her the way I usually did when I found a gathering of sand, blood, and Mila's basket. The basket she uses to collect things. I thought it wasn't true, it couldn't be. I ran inside and asked where Mila was but no one could tell me. I told them of what was outside but they dismissed it, insisting you were out with _Rock Lee._" Her gaze met the Taijutsu master's. "So I prepared. I spoke with my cousin, Yin, who hired Juro and Yuna to help track down Rock Lee to get to the Kazekage. And here we are now. That is what happened. I am simply bringing justice to a murderer."

Yin broke the lack of sound by coughing out blood onto the ground. Although he was in an excruciating amount of pain, if what they planned could become real he would die a happy man.

"This is…Gaara-kun?" Lee's tone was of shock, and there was hurt in there too. The hurt made Gaara feel awful. "This is not true, is it? You would not kill someone now?"

"I was angry; upset." The Kazekage replied stiffly. "I didn't know what I was doing. I'm a different person now, Lee. I promise you that one. You've seen me." He turned from his partner to Yin and his eyes darkened. "Do you not believe me?" His footsteps quickened until he was right next to the lying Ninja.

Lee held out his hand and put it on Gaara's shoulder. "Why did you not tell me this?" He asked, reasonably enough. "Gaara-sama, to kill an innocent young woman…" There were no more words, the Ninja trailed off from his sentence.

"Gaara-_sama_?" Gaara repeated, his voice hoarse. "Why did you retreat to your old terms for me? We all make mistakes. Lee, I thought you of all people would trust me. Was this all a charade? You never loved me…like I loved you. What is love to you? Have I gotten love wrong?" He lifted his leg and pounded his foot into Yin, who lifted his head and gasped, blood exploding out from his mouth. This didn't stop the redhead, who began to hit his foot with even more force, blood flying upwards and hitting his clothes, his face, Lee's clothes, Lee's face.

"Lee!" Neji yelled. Kiyomi had moved the blade deeper into Sakura's neck. The pink haired Kunoichi had tears falling from her emerald eyes, but she uttered no sound.

"Gaara." There was no _kun_ and no _sama_. But it was Lee speaking. "It does not matter what I address you as. I love you. Please stop." Lee pleaded. He opened his arms, stepped around Yin, and closed the smaller man in an embrace from behind. As usual the red hair tickled his neck. "Why do you get so angry? These are people. That servant girl, she was a person. With a family, clearly, who mourn her everyday."

Lee was startled at this revelation, of course. That Gaara had killed someone unfairly. Though he had done this many times before, but not recently. _But if I am not there for Gaara, who will be? His siblings? He needs someone to love him…and I need him to love me. _It was Lee's final thought on the matter. It wouldn't matter if Gaara killed a thousand people - he would still love him. _I shall be with him. I shall be there if his anger grows out of hand, and I will help him._

"If you did not love me, there would be no point to my existence. I would fail my duty as a Kazekage, too wrapped up in thoughts about you. There would be no point. No point." Gaara mumbled. He looked down at Yin and saw what he had done, and immediately Mila flashed into his mind. This was it. This was the last time. The damage here was done, Yin was fading away. But this was it. No more killings. He was finished with them. He just had to control his rage somehow. Lee would control it with him. The masked man coughed a few more times, then raised his arm in desperation. It dropped when his heartbeat stopped seconds later.

Sakura realised the situation with her mouth hanging open. Lee was with _Gaara?_ Slowly, things fell in to place. People worrying what Gaara thought about all of this, Lee always going to Suna, coming back with the happiest of smiles on his face. She didn't know what to feel. What to think of this. But there was no time. Kiyomi had reacted to Yin's death - harshly.

"Help me!" Sakura screamed. It was Lee that ran to her rescue, Sai following from behind. Kiyomi threw the kunai she was holding against Sakura at Lee and Sai. But only after she had sliced the kunai across Sakura's neck. The kunai missed Sai as he was behind Lee. It hit the latter.

Kiyomi closed her eyes and formed a seal with her hands. "This is our revenge, Gaara-kun." She said. She disappeared briefly only to appear next to Yin, then took his body with her when she disappeared for the second time.

"She's gone." Neji assured everyone, not seeing her Chakra anywhere with his Byakugan. With this confirmation, everyone rushed forward to the scene in front of them. It had happened so fast no one was really sure of how serious it was. Sakura and Lee were both kneeling, clutching their wounds, eyes wide, mouths open in shock. "Sakura-san!" Lee yelped.

Shikamaru knelt by Sakura. "What do we do? You're the only medical Ninja here! How do we help this?" He shouted.

Sai created three birds. "The only option we have," he told the group, when Sakura merely clutched at Shikamaru's clothing in reply, "is to get them back to Konoha as fast as we can."

"That will take more time than we have." Neji informed them, looking at the wounds the two had. "These are serious - we need to go as fast as we can and just hope we make it to Tsunade in time to help them."

Gaara clenched his fist in one hand, and held the other in Lee's. _This is not looking good. Do not die, Lee. I will not let you. I will not let you die like this._

***

The rain fell. It pattered against the windows of Naruto's office. He was sat in his chair, signing off a few documents. Night had fallen an hour or two or so ago, as had the rain. It wasn't gentle rain, it poured down so hard it was difficult to see outside. However, it was peaceful. There was nothing wrong with a little bit of rain. In a way, it helped to clear his mind. Unless he got started on a memory. That was the problem. Whenever something bad happened; rain appeared. It was never a bright sunny day if something happened terribly. So what was happening now?

On the sofa he kept in his office lay Hinata, her eyes closed, a pleasant smile on her pretty face, fast asleep. She was no longer allowed out on missions as she was pregnant, and each day found herself growing bored, so she often found herself in Naruto's office, talking to him until she grew tired. She got more tired now she was carrying a baby. His baby. Her baby.

The past few days had gone past slowly. There was some problems in the Country of Rain and Konan had requested some of Konoha's best so Kakashi, Ten Ten and Anko were sent. With Yamato, Gai, and the rest of the Konoha Nine away from Konoha besides Hinata, so there weren't many to socialize with. He'd caught up with Iruka yesterday and they spoke about Lee. That was the Ninja most on the Hokage's mind. Surely Sai, Shikamaru Sakura and Neji would be back soon? With Lee? They couldn't give up searching, and Naruto couldn't give up hope. That wasn't his way of the Ninja.

Another hour, perhaps more, passed, without much happening. Then two things happened at once.

Hinata woke up, rubbing her eyes, the smile still on her face, and murmured, "What time is it?"

And Shizune burst through the door shrieking, "Naruto! Come with me quickly to the hospital! Tsunade-sama is already there but Sakura asked for you! Hurry!"

Naruto stood from his seat immediately. "What?! What's happened? Is it Fuzzy Brows? Hold on, I'm coming!" He grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her along with him as he ran to the hospital, Shizune following from behind, her speed slower than Naruto's after running from the hospital to here, her breathing slightly heavy. When they arrived Naruto shouted at the man at the desk to tell him where Rock Lee was. When he did, Naruto was off again, running upstairs and down a corridor until he reached the room he required.

As he opened the door, he found himself in a private room with three hospital beds. However, instead of one, two were occupied, and to Naruto's immense surprise Sakura was in one, with Tsunade performing medical Jutsu on her there and then, there being no time to find an operating table. Shikamaru, Sai, Neji and Gaara were sat on the chairs in the room by the window. Gaara held Lee's hand in his.

Hinata gasped. "W-what happened? Why is Sakura…?"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. He turned to the three seated and shrieked at them. "What happened? Fuzzy Brows?"

Lee was lying in his bed with a broad smile on his face. "Naruto-kun." He greeted the Hokage. "I - will be - fine. Sakura-san will be - be fine. This is… all what, what we must go through - in the springtime…in - in the…springtime of our youth. Oh!" At the 'oh' he winced in pain and clutched his stomach. Naruto tried to notice the fact Lee had stumbled on most words he spoke, and when he did speak his voice was quiet and whispery. Lee's eyes dropped as he struggled to keep them open.

Shizune appeared then, Ino in tow, and (presumably having explained the situation to Ino as they hurried here) the blonde set to work on Lee, with Tsunade still with Sakura, trying to stop the blood flow and seal the deep cut. Sakura was cut in an odd place on her neck; not killing her instantly, missing the main point but slowly weakening her.

Naruto and the others were shooed outside by a passing nurse, and told to wait just in the corridor. There were four chairs. Naruto and Gaara, being Kages, took one each, and Hinata, being pregnant, took the third next to Naruto. Neji took the last, and Sai and Shikamaru just leaned against the opposite wall to face them. It was silent for a few minutes. Naruto's expression was one of complete shock, he was stunned into silence. But Gaara's face was desolate. His vision was aimed at the door to Lee.

"How did this happen?" Hinata asked meekly, eyes downcast, her hair falling in front of her bowed head.

Shikamaru sighed. "A female Ninja - she had Sakura in a grasp with a Kunai to her throat. Gaara killed her cousin, another enemy Ninja. This made her mad…she wounded Sakura then threw the same Kunai at Lee and Sai. It hit Lee. It happened so _quick._ I should have done something." He put his head in his hands in frustration.

"Why didn't I defend Lee with my sand?"

Everyone looked at Gaara. He was still looking at the door but he talked to them in a solemn, dead, tone. "I could have if I had turned around and saw what Lee was doing, but I was looking at that man. Why didn't I turn?"

"There is no point in pinning blame on yourselves," said Neji, tugging at a lock of his silky brown hair to calm his anxiety about Lee. This was one of his closest comrades; friends. "It is the enemy's fault. No one else caused this."

"If I hadn't killed that woman, that Ninja's sister, none of this would have happened." Gaara looked at Naruto as he said this. The Hokage was looking at his lap, but he stiffened slightly at what Gaara had just uttered. "I can't wait any longer than this. I need to see if Lee is all right!"

There was a sudden burst of noise from inside the room and gasps. A machine with a low beep could be heard vaguely. No one knew what it meant for real - but they were all thinking of the same thing. Naruto lifted his head and touched Gaara's arm. "It still won't be your fault for their injuries, Gaara. You are to blame for the enemy coming, maybe, but not what the enemy did once they came. Please remember this."

Gaara looked at the hand on his arm, then into the blue eyes of his companion. Naruto was putting up a brave pretence, he could tell. In reality, the man was terrified. Terrified of losing his best friends, his past love, his training buddy, his comrades. For Gaara, the loss of the pink haired woman would not pain him. He knew it would Lee though, and thinking of Lee tragically upset made him feel it. If Lee died? The Kazekage couldn't even bear thinking about it. It wouldn't happen. Lee was strong, he had a positive attitude. Everything was going to be fine, like the spandex wearing ninja kept insisting to everyone.

"Naruto, I know how you are feeling. Do not try to comfort me with deciding where the blame lies." The redhead eventually replied. "You have two to lose a close relationship with."

The door clicked open, and Shizune walked out, followed by Tsunade. For one moment everyone really did think everything was going to be all right.

Outside, the rain had stopped and the moon was hanging proudly in the sky, the stars sparkling. It was a perfect night, like a sunny day but in the dark with the moon. Naruto noticed this, but with a second look at the older women's faces, he knew the weather didn't really tell whether a bad thing was going to happen, whether rain was a link to negativity in life. Because the moon shone brightly, happily. And Tsunade and Shizune weren't beaming bright, happy smiles.

Their faces said it all.

**Author's Note: **_**REVIEW. Seriously. Review. No reviews, no new chapter up! Which would be a shame, right? Anonymous or not I want reviews. Next chapter is the last one I believe. Then an epilogue, then the alternate ending I had in mine for chapter fifteen. So what happened? It might seem a bit rushed and weird. I don't know. Longest chapter so far hoorah! What happens next? Are Lee and Sakura all right? Who knows…**_


	15. The Final Curtain

**Chapter Fifteen: The Final Curtain**

Gai and Kakashi were walking to a bar in the evening, talking about their previous students. They were going to get a new group of three people to mentor next week after years of having a break from it to let the newer Jounin have a chance. The night was still young, and the streets were crowded. The bar they were originally intending to go to was full, so they passed it and decided to just walk for a while and wait for the rush to die down. It had been raining earlier, but now, the weather was lovely. Gai hinted that going for a run would work out their bodies better, but Kakashi refused point blank.

"How is Ten Ten doing?" Kakashi asked quickly, steering the subject away from exercise.

"She's strong," Gai replied with enthusiasm. "She hasn't missed a target in absolutely years! In fact, she has even developed a new scroll and weapon technique made up by herself. It's very powerful. I'm proud of her."

"That's good." Kakashi nodded. He walked silently with the man for a few seconds. "I suppose you are most proud of Lee."

The bobbed haircut man grinned. "Lee has succeeded in his childhood ambition of beating Neji. He is stronger than him now. He has trained so hard. And now, he finally has his reward." Up ahead was an almost empty bar; the two Ninja sat in it and ordered some Sake.

When it came, Kakashi took a long drink before answering Gai. "You mean Gaara?"

"Exactly!" Gai sounded so happy; tears welled up in his eyes. "My wonderful Lee has found himself a love. This will surely only make him train harder to match a Kazekage's level! It's his birthday soon, you know."

Before Kakashi could reply, Gai noticed a figure running up to them. He jumped from his seat and shouted, "SHIKAMARU! I haven't spoken to you in many days! How are things?" Then he noticed the Jounin's expression. "What is it?" Gai inquired, his voice low now; serious.

Shikamaru looked at one of the men for longer, his eyes full of pain. "You have to come with me, immediately." He eventually murmured, eyes to the ground. The Jounin had his arms pinned to his sides and fists clenched in frustration for what had happened. But he was determined not to cry. "The mission…something happened…Konoha Hospital…"

The senior ninjas looked at each other in surprise. "Shikamaru, what is it?" Kakashi persisted. "Who is it?"

But the shadow manipulator kept his head down and walked away, waving a hand to indicate they must follow him. Realising the seriousness of the situation, they did so, silently, following the genius mind of Konoha. And as they did, they saw him tremble slightly, keeping control of his emotions. This was serious. He hadn't acted like this since…well. _Since someone he knew had died. _Kakashi thought with a grim expression.

Gai was more open with his thoughts. "Lee?" He choked out.

Shikamaru froze for a second. Just a second. Then he carried on walking determinedly to the hospital. When they arrived, Gai ran straight in, already sure of what must have happened, demanding to know Lee's room. Kakashi and Shikamaru followed after him.

When the three arrived in the waiting hall outside the room, they saw Shizune, Sai, Hinata, Ino and Neji sat on the chairs. Neji had covered his face with his hands and Ino was crying. Shizune stood up as she saw them, a pained look on her face, but a flicker of surprise too. "Oh! Both of you. I'd have thought it would have only been…have you told them what happened?" She asked Shikamaru hesitantly, who shook his head in reply. The dark haired woman nodded slowly and turned to Gai and Kakashi. Gai, who was fidgeting impatiently, his face a mask of horror, and Kakashi, who stood composed but worried. "The mission brought a huge loss." Shizune eventually murmured. "Tsunade-sama, Ino and I did everything we could…" She stepped backwards. "You can go in. The Fifth and Sixth Hokage are in there with the Kazekage."

Gai burst through the door, not wanting to wait a second longer to find out exactly what happened. The door clicked shut behind Kakashi. Then they both stared.

***

Away from the hospital, from Konoha, past the forests and through the wilderness and different civilian villages, into the desert and miles away, into Suna and the Kazekage's building, up three floors and across the hall into an office, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, was Temari, acting as substitute Kage for the time Gaara was away. She had only just finished her work for the entire day, realising how much Gaara had to do everyday. It was quiet for once, without anyone rushing in with any more paperwork for her to do.

Stacking the sheets of paper to one side, the blonde propped her elbows on the desk and rested her head on her hands. She got the feeling she was being left in the dark about something. Where exactly was Gaara again? Kankuro was definitely hiding something about him.

"That's it." Temari sighed. She stood up and made her way to Kankuro's room. She was going to find out what exactly was going on. She arrived at Kankuro's door and banged on it impatiently.

"What?" Her brother opened the door, yawning. His make up was scrubbed off for the day and he was wearing his relaxing clothes. "Can't you see I'm about to go to bed? I've had to go to all the meetings Gaara had to go to while you sorted out his paperwork, you know."

Ignoring his tired greeting, Temari pushed past him and sat herself on the chair in his room. "Look, Kankuro." She snapped. He closed the door and sat on the other chair, an almost knowing look on his face, like he knew why she was here. "You and Gaara are hiding something from me, I just know it." The eldest of the three siblings gasped when she saw the look in Kankuro's eyes. "I knew it! Come on! Tell me. I'm your sister. I deserve to know. Is it about who Gaara is secretly seeing? Who is she? Is that where Gaara has gone? Konoha?"

Kankuro groaned. "Temari, promise not to go crazy when I tell you, okay?"

She frowned. "I promise. Now tell me."

"And I only know because I walked in on the two of them about to do it right before my eyes." Kankuro added, incase Temari fussed about not being told before him. The memory shone in his mind for a second and he shook his head to get rid of it.

"So it _is_ someone Gaara's with." Temari grinned triumphantly. "I told you so! Now. _Is_ it Sakura? Or perhaps Matsuri? But no, then he wouldn't have to go to Konoha for her…"

Uneasily, Kankuro answered, "It's Lee."

The astounded face Temari's expression turned in to was nothing like what Kankuro had seen before. She covered her mouth with both hands and just stared at her brother in silent shock for a minute. Then, astonishing Kankuro, her face creased and she removed her hands, revealing a smile. A bubble of laughter escaped her lips, and as it did, she couldn't stop.

"I'm not joking," Kankuro added, puzzled. "Why are you laughing?"

Temari guffawed. "Trust Gaara!" She gasped. "He wouldn't be able to deal with women. Though really, _Lee_…" She laughed again. "I can't quite get my head around that!"

"Don't let Gaara hear you laughing at Lee," Kankuro warned her, though he was grinning too. "He loves him. And Lee loves him. That's where he's gone." The grin had vanished from Kankuro's face. "Lee was taken by unknown enemy ninja and these ninja sent a letter to Gaara demanding him to come otherwise Lee would be hurt, or worse, killed."

"What?" The laughter died in Temari's throat. "Kankuro, why didn't you tell me this? How can you have let Gaara go alone -"

"Everyone thinks he is visiting Konoha for an emergency meeting with the Hokage, so of course only I knew the real reason as Gaara told me about it before he set off. Otherwise of course the Council would have insisted someone go with him. But these ninja said only Gaara could come." The male replied, shrugging. "There's nothing we can do about it. Hopefully Gaara will be home soon or we'll at least get a report updating us on the situation he is in."

His sister sighed. "This is too much information to digest at once. I still can't believe Gaara is with Lee of all people…and then this has happened…I just hope they're both going to be okay."

"So you're okay with it? Gaara and Lee I mean?" Kankuro gaped at Temari.

"Well, yeah. There's no point wasting time fussing about my brother's relationships. Though I _am_ angry I wasn't informed sooner! Am I the last to know or something? Even some enemy ninja know before I do!" The Jounin answered crossly, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "Now that I know all of this, I think I need to go to bed. I'm tired, suddenly, with all this news. Goodnight, Kankuro."

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "You gave me stick and teasing about Kiba for a month." He muttered under his breath. But then he raised his voice slightly and bid goodnight to his sister. "Don't tell the Council about Gaara's secret mission." He added.

"As if I would!" She assured him, then was out of the room quickly before anything else could be said. As she paced down the hallway, she couldn't quite believe what she had just heard. But she just hoped her baby brother, the Kazekage, the once evil turned good Gaara, was all right.

***

Gai rushed to Lee's side where Gaara was sitting next to him and Kakashi sat on the chair next to Naruto around Sakura's bed. Tsunade was stood at the back, a focused expression on her face, as if she were forcing herself not to show any emotion at all. The room was grey tiled, white walled, and there was a single big window showing the outside world on the opposite wall from the door. The two beds, occupied, had white sheets and faded white quilts. Each bed had a bedside table next to them, and each bedside table had a vase of flowers on top of them. There was a chair either side of the beds, all occupied by the visitors. Naruto held Sakura's hand; Gaara held Lee's. There was moment when no one said anything. Then everyone did something at once.

Tsunade excused herself and exited the room, closing the door behind her politely. Gai clasped Lee's other hand in a fatherly manner, and almost felt like his father at that moment. Gaara tightened his grip on Lee. Kakashi bowed his head; Naruto screwed up his face, tears threatening. And Lee coughed twice before opening his eyes to the world, to everyone in the room. The only person who didn't do anything was Sakura.

Because Sakura was dead.

"Gaara-kun…" Lee whispered, smiling. This was only the second time he had regained consciousness since his injury; he had lost it during the journey to Konoha. The first time had been brief, and his memory was struggling to remember it. "Did I not say everything was going to be fine?" He tried to sit up but his wound made him wince in pain so he gave up. "I'll be better soon." He turned his head to look at Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi. "How is Sakura-chan?"

Kakashi folded his arms. "Not good, Lee. I'm sorry. She's gone."

"What?" Lee choked out.

Naruto stood up with his fists clenched at his sides. He looked around at everyone before starting to walk out of the room.

"Naruto." Kakashi's voice floated across the silent room easily and made Naruto pause, his hand reaching for the door handle. "I know you must be upset. We all are."

Gai coughed to signal attention towards himself. "I think Gaara and I will leave you and Naruto alone, Kakashi." He nodded. "Lee, have some sleep as as soon as you can walk again you'll be training extra hard to make up for all this lost time." Gai added in Lee's direction.

His younger lookalike nodded. "Yes, Gai-Sensei." Lee's mind was swimming. He couldn't believe it. Sakura was dead…and it was all his fault. But his eyes were dropping; it was hard to stay awake for a long amount of time at the moment and sleep was overwhelming him. He heard Gaara mutter some sort of protest, then the presence of Gaara's hand in his own was gone and the door closing sounded. It was just himself, Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura left in the room now. He decided it would be rude to intrude on their conversation about Sakura, and shut his eyes and fell fast asleep, drifting into dreams of what had happened only a day ago, this morning, even.

The Hokage came and sat back in his chair. "I know now I'm the Hokage I need to see this as a mission completed, but with a loss. However all I can think about is Sakura. And all the things we've been through together…I remember when she caught me using her toothbrush to scrub my toilet…" He smiled in spite of his feelings. "She punched me so hard I had to practically be spoon fed for a week."

The pink haired Chuunin lay on the bed with a peaceful smile on her face; it was almost like she was just sleeping. However there were no breathing motions, no movement. Kakashi glanced over at the really sleeping Lee. "You and Sakura were best friends, I know that. I know you have feelings for her, and now she's gone so you can't say anything more about the subject…" The masked man hesitated. "She wouldn't have wanted you to waste time being upset about her."

"No." Naruto sighed. "I used to have feelings for Sakura. I was in love with her, damn it. But now she's just my best friend. Was my best friend. No one wants to die leaving their friends to mourn for them and be distraught, but it can't be helped. She'll be missed." He stared at Lee. "And I think she was falling in love with Lee."

"Really?" Kakashi asked, surprised.

The blond nodded slowly. "She didn't actually tell me, but I could tell. She kept asking me when Lee would be back…" He rubbed his eyes to stop tears falling down his cheeks. "Then this had to happen."

"But it wouldn't have worked out." Kakashi pointed out gently. "Lee and Gaara are together."

"I know. Damn it." Naruto touched Sakura's cheek. "Kakashi?" He mumbled.

"Yes?"

Naruto paused. "Can I - can I talk to Sakura alone for a moment? I know it's probably stupid to you, but there are some things I want to, no, have to say to her."

"Of course." Kakashi stood up and made to leave. As he walked through the door, he turned his head and looked at Sakura for a long moment. _Goodbye, Sakura._ He thought. Then he walked out, closing the door behind him.

The Hokage smiled at the Kunoichi. "Sakura-chan." He said, a tear leaking from his eye. "Why did you have to go and die like this?"

He received no reply, of course, but he spoke to her as if she was talking back to him, just ordinary old Sakura and Naruto talking like they always did. It wasn't the same. It was the last time they would speak. Naruto thought for a moment about the last thing he truly said to Sakura that she heard. Something about her mission…why did he send her on this mission…_Good luck, everyone._ That was it. Catching Sakura's eye as he said it. It seemed so trivial. So small.

_What would I have done if I'd have known that would have been the last thing I would properly say to her? _Naruto thought. _Who knows now, it's too late._

He continued his last goodbye.

***

A few days later, and Naruto was walking through the village with Hinata. They were talking about the baby at first, but the conversation drifted to Sakura. It was still hard to believe she wasn't ever going to speak to Naruto again, laugh with him, even punch him. Ironically, Naruto thought he would miss that most of all. At times he felt like screaming. The death was too sudden. He never got to say goodbye _properly_. He wanted to hear her voice just one last time. See her running up to him about something or other, or him begging her to go for ramen with him and hearing her rejection, protesting he should really change his diet. True, he hadn't spent enough time with Sakura since he had become Hokage. Another of his regrets to do with her. He wished for one more day, just one more day. Naruto thought of Jiraiya, of Konohamaru, of Sasuke. Sakura hurt more than these three ever had. The wind whistled in his ears, and he thought of times he had walked past sakura flowers, the cherry blossoms that had petals flying with the breeze. They would always remind Naruto of her. He could never forget her, ever. He didn't want to.

"It's not fair, Hinata." Naruto said quietly.

She looked at him for a long time before speaking. "I know. She shouldn't have died. It was too quick for it to seem real."

The Hokage forced a smile as villagers waved to him and greeted him. He and Hinata walked to his old training area, years and years ago, where he learnt the Rasen Shuriken. Sakura brought him some disgusting food or medicine of some sort, if he could remember properly. "The funeral is in a couple of days. It's still too surreal to be burying her." Naruto sat himself down on the grass and lay on his back, arms tucking up his head so he could look at Hinata. "I know you weren't close to Sakura…but you can see how I'm feeling, right?"

"I know, Naruto-kun." Hinata lay herself down next to him and glanced upwards at the sky. It was cloudy, matching her mood. "But after the funeral…and she's laid to rest…maybe then you can start moving forwards with your own life."

"That's just it. We're all moving forwards, and she's stopped." Naruto frowned with the frustration of everything. "Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. I can't save anyone."

"Save anyone?" Hinata repeated, startled. "How could you have saved Sakura?"

"If I hadn't put her on that mission -"

"She'd have gone anyway." The Hyuuga finished for him quickly. "You know that."

Of course Naruto knew. But as he thought everything over, he tried to find something that would make this all his fault. As he was lying there in the grass with Hinata, who was carrying their baby, he knew this should have been a happy moment in one way. He _would_ have to move forwards, Hinata was right. But the pain wouldn't go away. Not for a long time. And the memory would never fade. _This always runs through my mind. Never forgetting her. The pain. The loss. _Naruto sighed deeply and placed a hand on Hinata's stomach. _She wouldn't have wanted me like this. Think of the future. The future. The future._

"I'm sorry." Naruto allowed himself to smile, closing his eyes to blot out his sight. "I'm just being selfish."

"Thinking of Sakura isn't being selfish. I'm sure everyone is thinking of her at the moment. I saw Ino earlier in fits of tears." Hinata's tone was sympathetic as she spoke. "You're not alone in this remember!"

"I know." A lizard type creature scuttled past, unaware to the heartbreak people were suffering at the moment. "Come on." Naruto stood up and helped Hinata rise to her feet by taking her hand and arm. "Let's go and eat some ramen." They walked away from the old training area, and they didn't look back.

***

"_Help me!" Sakura screamed. It was Lee that ran to her rescue, Sai following from behind. Kiyomi threw the kunai she was holding against Sakura at Lee and Sai. But only after she had sliced the kunai across Sakura's neck. The kunai missed Sai as he was behind Lee. It hit the latter. _

_Kiyomi closed her eyes and formed a seal with her hands. "This is our revenge, Gaara-kun." She said. She disappeared briefly only to appear next to Yin, then took his body with her when she disappeared for the second time._

"_Sakura-san!"_

Lee woke up with a start and found himself sitting up in his hospital bed. His torso was bare, bandages wrapped round and round the wounded area multiple times. The room was quiet, but Gaara was sat on a chair next to him, staring into his eyes intently. Sakura's bed was empty. That was when Lee remembered what he dreaming about. He shook his head. This was all his fault.

"Are you in pain?" Gaara asked suddenly. He looked at the muscles on Lee's arms, which were untouched, then at the bandages across his stomach, which clearly were. "I don't want you in pain."

"I am fine." Lee assured him with a quick smile. It was the truth. Before, when he sat up, his injury made him seize up in pain. Now, it was more of a twinge, an irritation. The Jounin realised now was the time to say about his decision about whether or not to join Gaara in Suna. They were both alone. It probably wasn't the best time in the world with Sakura…deceased…but Lee couldn't put this off. He took a deep breath in. "Gaara-kun."

"Yes?" The redhead answered immediately, his eyes still focused on Lee's bandages. He felt no pain whatsoever at the death of Sakura, he knew he wouldn't, but seeing Lee with those wounds made him angry to think this was his fault.

The injured man sat up straight, noticing the little amount of pain he felt this time. "About joining you in Suna." He mumbled. "I've decided what to do."

Gaara was a little surprised, and moved his hand to enclose it in Lee's. The usual bandages tied around it were gone, and the past training scars he had on them were on show. Gaara's hand was flawless and smooth, a complete contrast to the roughness and damage to Lee's. "You need time to recover before you think about that." He shrugged, though he was actually very curious as to what Lee's choice was.

"No. One more day and I'm out, I'm sure. I need to train extra hard to make up for it." Lee insisted. "I've decided what to do, as I said. I have to carry on. Sakura-san would have wanted me to. I can feel it somehow." He paused as he thought about his first 'love'. Even now he wasn't sure whether he truly loved her or not. Something told him Sakura would have wanted him to do this. "I'll transfer to Suna so I can live with you, Gaara-kun."

"Thank you." Gaara replied quietly.

It seemed a small gesture of gratitude, but Gaara meant it fully. Looking at Lee like this was almost tearing him apart, but he held it together with the relief it wasn't Lee that died. It was the pink haired woman. Lee was going to recover, he was coming to Suna, Gaara would always be able to know where he was to make sure he was safe.

"Welcome. I do not know how I would be able to fulfil my duties as a Ninja properly if I were in Konoha and only got to see you at certain times, and only occasionally." Lee nodded. "When is Sakura-san's funeral?" He asked hesitantly, after a few seconds of silence.

"Two days time."

"Right." The bushy browed Jounin leaned back into the bed and closed his eyes. "I _will_ come out of here tomorrow, which is more than enough time to prepare for the funeral." He told Gaara, before starting to fall into a deep slumber. His tiredness still wasn't wearing off, it seemed. "Gaara-kun…" he muttered. "Do not sit here with me while I am sleeping. Walk around, talk to people…thank you." His breathing turned deeper, more even.

How he fell asleep so fast, Gaara couldn't decipher. But he did what Lee asked and walked out of the room with one glance back before the door closed itself.

***

"Naruto."

The blonde was standing on the bridge, gazing down at the water with a saddened expression. Another figure reflected in the lake, a person with flame coloured hair, and stood there for a few minutes before uttering the Hokage's name. A tear was wiped away; a face changing into a mask that represented contentment.

"Gaara?" Naruto turned around, forcing a smile on his face. It faltered for a moment as he asked, "Is Fuzzy Brows okay?"

"I was going to talk to you about Lee, actually." The Kazekage nodded. "He's fine," he added hastily as Naruto stepped forward in alarm. "No." Gaara continued once Naruto relaxed. "I made him a proposition before everything happened, to join me in Suna, transferred from Konoha so he would work under me rather than the Hokage." There were a few seconds of silence. "Just now when I was talking to him he decided he would accept what I offered and join me."

The Nine Tails host pressed his lips together before letting out a deep breath. "I see." He murmured. "Well, moving forward, right? Moving on. That's - that's fine."

"Thank you, Naruto. I shall sort out any paperwork with you that needs to be done about this later." It was when there was no reply the redhead spoke his thoughts. "You still mourn her." He said simply. "Why is that so?"

"If you lost Lee, would you stop mourning him after only days?" Naruto shot back, riled up by this question. "I thought you understood other people now. You can't just forget the person."

Gaara considered this. If he lost Lee, he would lose his will to live. This was the hard truth. There would no point if the Jounin wasn't there to brighten his day. The Kazekage honestly thought back to life before Lee and wondered how he managed. But Naruto and Sakura…they weren't in love. They weren't planning a life together. If Naruto had lost Hinata, then, maybe, he'd understand how was feeling. But this was just his friend. There was no closeness, like there was with a lover. Friends killed friends themselves before, even siblings killed siblings…Madara sprung to mind.

The defeat of him was difficult, uncertain. Naruto appeared to destroy him after the death of Sasuke caused him to appear. But no one knew with Madara. Gaara shook his head. He was getting sidetracked.

"But I love Lee." Gaara answered finally.

"So what if I died?" Naruto snapped. "You don't love me, are you saying you would feel nothing?"

Finally, Gaara understood. Just a little. Losing Naruto, the person who helped him through his worst times? This would be unforgettable, terrible, it would pain him certainly. But…after time, he would be able to move forwards and think back to Naruto as the loyal friend he was.

"I'm sorry." The Hokage mumbled suddenly. "I am just so frustrated. My entire team are gone. Sasuke and Sakura. There's only Kakashi and I left. Even Ero-Sennin; Konohamaru. It's just tough. This is what it is to be a Ninja?"

"You're strong, you'll get through it." Gaara promised him. "You're stronger than me." He added quietly, almost to himself.

Naruto put a hand on his shoulder. "You came to tell me of Lee's decision to become one of your Ninja transferring from Konoha to Suna and I am just spilling out my anger and snapping at you. When Lee comes out for the - for the funeral in two days time, which I will definitely allow, we'll sort it out properly."

_A shared moment between friends. This is what I would miss if Naruto were to die. Does Naruto miss the moments with Sakura he used to share? Of course he must. He must be feeling awful, and I am not being very sympathetic._ Gaara thought with a small frown. _I used to take death so lightly. I never realised the massive effects it has on people, not just the victim. It is never forgotten, there's never someone who isn't hurt. But it always happens, and many are my fault. Mila…Sakura…no more. No more._

"I will see you tomorrow. I have to return to Lee and see if he has awakened." Gaara told his fellow Kage. "Thank you for helping me to see. I hope you will feel happier soon."

Naruto turned back to the bridge and stared at the water again. "Tomorrow, Gaara." He stated. But the Kazekage had already walked away, leaving Naruto to gather his thoughts alone.

***

Choji broke away from the kiss with Ino. He saw her expression and matched it with his own face. "You can say goodbye to her properly today, Ino." He brushed her hair with his fingers. The other hand held an unopened packet of potato chips. "She's looking at you right now and trying to tell you to toughen up, Ino-Pig, all right?"

Ino wiped her red eyes with tissue and smiled weakly. It was the day of the funeral, and she was dreading it. As she got dressed into her formal mourning clothes she took one look in the mirror and burst into tears, leaving Choji to try and cheer her up. She imagined Sakura would say that, and think Ino was being stupid to cry for her like this. But she couldn't help it.

She sniffed. "I'm fine. Come on, we don't want to be late." She took Choji's hand and the two left their home to attend. As they walked they noticed Sakura's parents walking in the same direction, eyes like hers, red and puffy from crying.

"We'll all get through this." Choji hastily put in, sensing Ino was about to cry again. "And then it's over before we know it."

_Except it isn't. There's tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that… _Ino sighed. _This is excruciating. But…hey, is that Lee? _She peered over about a hundred metres and saw a familiar green jumpsuit. _At least he is healthy and recovering._ "Let's go and talk to Lee." She nodded at Choji, leading him along, pacing faster. "Lee!" She called, waving at him. He turned his head and waved back feebly. Gaara was stood next to him like his shadow, never leaving his side once even when Ino caught up to them and clearly indicated she wanted to talk to Lee alone.

"Hello, Ino-san." The Jounin greeted her solemnly. His expression showed hardly any emotion, apart from the flicker of sadness in his eyes. "How are you…how are you coping?"

Ino sighed heavily. "Not well." She answered truthfully. "How about you?"

Gaara exhaled. "The funeral will be starting in fifteen minutes. We should make our way to the graveyard now and have this conversation there." He hooked an arm through Lee's, and walked steadily down the path, Ino and Choji bringing up the rear.

Ahead, a crowd could be made out in the graveyard. Ninjas had gathered for the funeral of Sakura as they had for all the others that had lost to death, plus her parents, who were stood at the front. Naruto was apart from the crowd, obviously waiting to speak, Hinata standing a few metres behind him with Kiba, Shino, Sai, Shikamaru, Neji and Ten Ten. Lee, Gaara, Ino and Choji joined them, and after ten more minutes of silent mourning for her, waiting for any latecomers, Naruto began his speech about Sakura.

He finished it with tears in his eyes, and that was when Ino stepped up to speak.

"Sakura and I…well, we were complicated. We were best friends, enemies, rivals, comrades, all at the same time." Ino swallowed. "We went through a lot together. I remember, years ago, when we both admitted we liked Uchiha Sasuke, and that's what broke our friendship as youngsters." There were a few muffled whispers at the mention of Sasuke, but Ino pressed on, ignoring them. "The Chuunin Exams, we had to fight each other, we wanted to prove who was stronger…we were evenly matched."

She spoke for a long time, telling everyone about the Sakura she knew. When she stopped, she had to turn away to hide her crying face.

The funeral went on and as Sakura's coffin was buried under the ground, that's when it hit it for Lee she would truly never be coming back, and he cried too. Tears with such emotion the last time he cried them had to be when he was about to have his emergency surgery. Gaara hugged him, which was a rare thing for Gaara to do. It was usually Lee hugging Gaara first, and Gaara returning it. Lee felt grateful, but the pain didn't go away.

Afterwards, Lee, Gaara and Naruto went to the Hokage's office to sort out the paperwork needed to transfer Lee to Suna. This was done in almost silence, the occasional word spoken to confirm something.

"My apologies, Naruto." Lee murmured. "I should not be leaving you in your time of need like this."

"What? Lee, don't be." Naruto instantly assured him. "You have a life of your own to think of, and you're going to have fun working for Gaara, right? Don't be thinking of me while you're in Suna. I want you enjoying yourself, because you got the second chance Sakura didn't."

"I just…" He hesitated, looking from Naruto to Gaara, and back again. "I feel like I should be doing something here to help people. Maybe I should postpone moving to Suna."

The Kazekage winced slightly, thinking of returning to Suna without Lee, leaving him in Konoha distraught for the death of his childhood friend, past love. But he didn't say anything. Whatever Lee wanted, he had to allow. Naruto, however, didn't think the same way.

"Me and Gaara have already signed the contract saying you're an official Suna Nin from now on, transferred from Konoha and will be accepting both Konoha and Suna missions. So you're going to Suna, and will stay in Suna. You must only come back to Konoha to visit, or for a mission, right?" He ordered. "I won't let you stay here, sad, when you could be experiencing new opportunities in Suna. Isn't that right, Gaara?"

Gaara shrugged. "I do not want Lee unhappy." He stated simply.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun, I think." Lee smiled. "And Gaara-kun, you can stay here or walk around for a bit. I'm going to say goodbye to everyone."

"You're leaving tonight?" Naruto blinked, a little astonished by how early he would have to say goodbye to Lee.

"Tomorrow morning." Gaara told him. Lee promised he would say a proper farewell, then left the office. "We can leave later Naruto, if you would prefer. If you need Lee here for longer."

"No, no." Naruto insisted. "Seriously. There are plenty of people here. I am not the only one hurt. Tomorrow is fine."

Gaara frowned, not really convinced, but didn't press the matter further. "All right. Well then. What else needs doing?" He brushed away a few documents and sighed deeply. "Naruto? This isn't the right time. But I need help."

_It would never be the right time, not for a long time._ Naruto thought with a grimace. _I just need to start thinking positively, not negatively. _"It will never be the right time, Gaara so whatever. What is it?"

"Lee. He is really upset about Sakura, but is putting up the pretence he isn't?" The Kazekage puzzled. "I don't know. How to help him through it, I mean."

"Mourning is a strange thing. It affects people differently." Naruto shrugged. "For me, I'm the most obvious. I cry in frustration, I keep objects in memory of the person…" He gestured to his office wall on the left. There was Sasuke's sword, Konohamaru's headband, an old book by Jiraiya, and now, put up while Naruto was preparing for the funeral, a Sakura flower. "Lee seems to be different from me, obviously. Don't worry - he appears to be fine. You will be spoken to by him if he needs your help through this, I'm sure. Just carry on being who you are with him."

"Right. I suppose." There was a pause. "Thank you."

"Welcome Gaara," Naruto was eyeing the memories on the wall and feeling angry about Sakura again. "Welcome."

***

Lee stood at Sakura's grave and sat down, cross legged, on the grass before it, reading the inscription and feeling the wind blow through his hair. He closed his eyes and almost heard footsteps from behind him, gentle and feminine, and a soft voice calling his name above the whistling of the trees…

"What are you doing here? Lee?"

This voice was real. Lee opened his eyes quickly and turned around. It was Ino, only a short distance away from him. The footsteps he thought were Sakura's were hers. Her hair was loose for a change, and fell down to her waist, silky and blonde. Her nails were bitten down to the quick, and her eyes were a little red, but other than that she looked like she was coping. The Kunoichi came and sat next to Lee, nibbling on her bottom lip nervously for a minute before sighing and staring straight into his eyes with a determined look about her.

"There's something I have to tell you. Sakura was going to tell you. But she didn't get to." Ino whispered. "Unless you've figured it out yourself. Or she did tell you. I don't know. Do you know what I'm on about?"

Lee blinked once. Twice. Three times. "I apologise, Ino-san. I do not understand. Sakura-san was going to tell me something…?" He squinted and suddenly remembered something. "Yes. She was in my apartment the day I was taken. She was about to say something but we got interrupted." Lee realised with a slight intake of breath this was his last proper conversation with the Chuunin. "What is it?"

The blonde hesitated. "Sakura fell in love with you." She said softly after a few seconds of silence.

At that moment, a distant memory flashed into Lee's mind, this startling revelation shocking him back to it, to when he was back in the hospital, while they were working on him and Sakura, and they spoke for one last time.

_Tsunade held a constant flow of heavy Chakra onto Sakura's wound, trying desperately to perform this healing Jutsu that could only be done while she was kept awake. If she fell unconscious, there'd be nothing she could do. Shizune worked on Lee with Ino, but he was almost out of danger so there was hardly as much worry for him as there was for the pink haired girl that Tsunade held a special bond with, being her teacher to new medical life saving techniques._

_Both of the injured were awake, bearing with the unbearable pain that hit them with each second, with no let up. Lee turned his head to look at Sakura and Tsunade. The Fifth Hokage was sweating with concentration and working as hard as she could. But it had taken the group so long to reach Konoha Hospital. What if it was too late? Lee couldn't think like that._

"_Shizune!" Tsunade shrieked. "I need some help here. Leave Ino with Lee!" The dark haired woman shouted at acted immediately and left her position with Lee, and darted over to help Tsunade. _

_Ino struggled on her own, but managed it, keeping Lee's injury on the mend. Sakura on the other hand, suddenly coughed up blood with a yelp of pain. The yelp was what made Lee's heart break. He tried to lift an arm to protect her (it was instinct) but didn't have the energy and had to just watch._

_Although she couldn't turn to look at him like he was doing to her, Sakura managed to bring up a few words to say to the man. "I hope." Her voice was coarse, like she hadn't drank in years, and was drying out completely. "You and Gaara. I hope you have a fantastic life together, Lee. I'm happy." Then she smiled. That was when Tsunade stopped the Chakra flow and held both hands to her mouth in shock. That was when Sakura had died._

_Ino carried on with Lee, but silent tears fell down her face. She gasped suddenly and called for Tsunade's help. Then Lee's world went black._

"I know." The flashback of the memory shattered as Lee spoke. "I think she was happy for Gaara-kun and I, though. She said this to me with a smile on her face."

Ino's mouth fell open slightly. "I thought you couldn't remember anything? Lee! What else did she say?"

"That she was happy herself. Those were her last words…'I'm happy.' Why did she have to die? She worked so hard, she was an amazing person." A tear trickled down his cheek and he didn't bother to wipe it away, shoulders shaking.

They hugged in the graveyard for a few moments, then broke apart. "Perhaps she is with Sasuke now. He was her true love, after all." Lee looked up into the sky. "I will fulfil Sakura's wishes. I will have a fantastic life with Gaara and keep her happy." He bowed to Ino then turned to leave. "Thank you for making me remember. I must go and tell Naruto that Sakura was happy even in the face of death."

She smiled and walked away with him. As they strode, a flutter of breeze hit both of them, gathering leaves and scattering them prettily in front. _Sakura?_ Ino thought. _Was that you?_ Linking an arm through Lee's, she passed where it happened, but looked back, at the grave, where the bunch of flowers she had brought with her lay.

***

There was relief in Naruto's eyes when he was told Sakura was happy, Lee saw that. In the pale moonlight as he walked away from Konoha with Gaara he felt contentment. _He_ wasn't happy, not yet. Probably not for a long time as he grew to accept the fact Sakura was gone.

"Lee, I am sorry about all of this." Gaara murmured, holding Lee's hand tight. "But things will get back to normal now. We'll be together. And that is all that matters to me."

"Don't apologise," Lee said cheerily. "I will never need an apology from you Gaara for this, it wasn't your fault to me, no matter what you or anyone else thinks. Because I love you."

"And I love you." Gaara nodded, a smile displaying on his face. "No matter what we face."

Lee leaned over and kissed the Kazekage tenderly on the lips wishing he could live this moment forever.

Not every future moment would be like this, but Lee was a Ninja, who always sought to get better, therefore deciding to make each moment the best he could.

"Oh, and Lee?" Gaara broke away from the osculation and smirked. "Happy Birthday. When we stop to rest, I have a brilliant gift for you…"

_He remembered. _Lee thought, a smile spreading ear to ear. So far, it had only been Gai who had, but of course that was to be expected on this day, being Sakura's funeral. In fact, Lee had only told Gaara his birthday in a fleeting moment weeks back; he was surprised he remembered, but felt very pleased. "Thank you, Gaara-kun." He said warmly. They carried on walking, hands together, taking the same journey they had months before.

_It would have been nice to walk in the sunset away from my old home, but this moon shall do._

**Author's Note: **_**Oh my God this chapter was way longer than I originally planned. Might have rambled on a bit, but hey. Happy Birthday to Lee! Review this please. Epilogue coming up, and if I have the time, the Alternate Ending. So remember to review!**_


	16. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_I gasped as the pain hit me, and I shrieked something I cannot remember. My vision became blurred, people were distant. A kunai was thrown at Lee and Sai. Did it hit Lee? No, not Lee, please not Lee. I felt myself drop to the ground just as he did too, and then there was a moment when I thought no one would come to rescue me. Did everyone run to Lee? Gaara would, he and Lee are together. Alas, Shikamaru appeared above me and I saw his lips move, but no sound came out. I clutched at his shirt in feeble reply, trying to make him repeat what he said. A conversation was spoken above me, and I began to fear the worst for my hearing and health._

_There were arms holding my legs, and arms holding my back, as I felt myself lifted onto a bird made by Ninjutsu art, something Sai must have created. It took off into the air and my vision cleared for a few moments perfectly so I could see the treetops and in front of me the sky. I was lying in Shikamaru's arms and he was holding me tight as we soared through the air._

_My hearing was still damaged, though. Shikamaru tried to say something to me, but all I could hear was faint mumblings that sounded something like stay awake, or day lake, whichever. Another bird swooped past and I saw Lee huddled up to Gaara. My heart almost broke, but not quite. There was something in me that felt happy that they were together, despite my feelings for Lee. Then the picture focused more and I noticed the blood seeping from Lee's stomach, and his pained expression._

_I moved a hand to my throat. This action should have seemed easy but it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. My entire body was weakened, but I managed to get it up there. I lifted my hand, and saw blood. Then my hand fell out of its own accord, not strong enough to stay up for a moment longer. Shikamaru held my bloody hand and for just one second I wished I was in love with him, to have the feeling of tingles rush through my body and just feel relaxed for one, simple, moment. It was stupid. He was with Temari. He was just my friend. I loved Lee. He was with Gaara. He was just my friend. No one loved me. Not Sasuke, not Lee, not Shikamaru. I forced Naruto away after everything he's done and now he's with Hinata. _

_What am I doing? Why am I being so selfish? I should be happy my friends have all found love. Ino with Choji. Shikamaru with Temari. Kiba with Kankuro. Naruto with Hinata. And, of course, Lee with Gaara. Lee with Sakura? Lee with Sakura. Lee with Sakura!_

"_Sakura, keep your eyes open. Can you hear me?" This was Shikamaru, bending his head to look at me properly. "Try to stay awake. We'll be at Konoha in just hours time."_

_I could hear him, surprisingly. Clear as day. And the pain that burned through me…I had almost forgotten about it before I shifted slightly and it seared again. "Shika…Shikama…" I croaked, feeling something slipping out of my throat and mouth as I said it. It tasted like iron. It was blood._

"_Don't speak." He whispered back. "We need to travel faster!" He shouted this over to Sai and Neji and Gaara, I presumed. I felt wind through my hair, and it made me sleepy._

_Yes…I was very tired. Just resting my eyes wouldn't hurt. Not for a few minutes._

_I woke to find myself being shaken gently by Tsunade, her face directly above mine; beautiful eyes full of worry. How did she get here? Then I realised I must have fallen asleep and we were in Konoha Hospital. It sounded like Lee near here too from the snippets of conversation I managed to hear._

"_Sakura, this is going to hurt you an awful lot. But you have to stay awake through this or it won't work. Do you understand?" This was Tsunade, questioning me about horrific pain. Of course I understood. I tried to say yes but words failed me. She pressed on anyway, not really waiting for a response. As if I would have no. Save my life? No thanks._

_That was when the pain hit me. Excruciating, unbearable. I would rather die than endure this to carry on living. No I wouldn't._

_Suddenly, I was filled with a great sense of contentment. I realised if I died, I would not mind as much as I thought I would. I thought I would hate death, but I am starting to get used to the idea. What is on the other side? No one living will ever know. Do ghosts truly exist? If so I will check up on my friends as they go about their lives after I'm gone. Because I won't make it. I can feel it. My body, slowly getting weaker by the second, the pain too much. Tsunade pressed on, but I wanted her to help Lee instead. Help him through this. He had Gaara to go to. Him and Gaara, they suited each other in an opposites attract kind of way. What was this? Was I happy for the two of them? I think I am. I'm happy for them._

_My body was running out of time. "Shizune!" Tsunade yelled desperately. "I need some help here. Leave Ino with Lee!" Shizune was working on me in a matter of seconds. I coughed horrifically, blood spurting out of my mouth. I didn't care._

_Ino was here? With Lee? In the same room? I could tell him. Tell him how I feel. But no. It was too late for me, and part of me, however sad it made me feel, knew he was happiest with the Kazekage. Ino would have to just understand that my last words had to be for Lee._

_Although I couldn't turn to look at him like I wished I could, I managed to bring up a few words to say to the man I loved. "I hope." My voice was coarse, like I hadn't drank in years, and was drying out completely. "You and Gaara. I hope you have a fantastic life together, Lee. I'm happy." Then I smiled._

_It felt incredible to just say this, and know it was the truth. All my feelings didn't matter anymore. Ino, I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to you. Tsunade-sama, thank you for trying. Same for you, Shizune. Sai, you brought me to my senses a number of times. But aside from Lee, the person that mattered most to me now was Naruto. I apologise, Naruto. I didn't get to say goodbye to you either, and these will be my only regrets in life now. Not saying goodbye. I wanted to say all of this out loud, so they could tell them. But I couldn't._

_My eyes closed, the smile still on my face. I heard a gasp as the chakra flow helping me had stopped. Tsunade understood, maybe, that I didn't want to go on fighting. I wanted to die peacefully in this warm bed next to many people I adored. Ino's voice was the last I heard. She was calling for Tsunade's help with Lee. And that was the most satisfying thing. They weren't going to breakdown over me. Lee was going to survive._

_Perhaps I'll see Sasuke now._

_Sometimes, you don't get a happy ending for yourself. So all you can ask for is an ending, and that is what I have been given._

***

"Mail for you, Kazekage-sama." A servant plopped an enveloped letter down on the desk and bowed. "If you need anything else, do not hesitate to inform me." He waited a few seconds before the redhead impatiently waved him away. "Of course." He nodded, and exited the room, although he turned at the doorway and added, "I apologise. It is mail for both the Kazekage-sama and you, Rock Lee-san. I did not notice you there in the corner." Then he was gone, off to finish whatever work he was doing before he was interrupted to deliver this letter.

Lee, who was indeed sat in the corner on a chair reading a book titled _To Get Stronger Each Day_, shifted his position and looked over at his partner. "A letter for both of us?" He puzzled. There was always lots of mail for the Kazekage, rarely any for Gaara himself, plenty for Lee from Gai (who had sent him the book he was reading in a parcel only yesterday) and also once or twice from Ino (the two had bonded and made a strong friendship after Sakura's death) but as of yet there had been no letter to both of them.

Gaara shrugged and picked it up, breaking the seal and taking it out of the envelope. "That's what it says on the front. Our address, and then Gaara and Lee, in what looks like Naruto's handwriting."

"Oh! Of course." Lee's mind cleared and he beamed. "Their beautiful baby is due in a matter of a week! He is obviously inviting us to be there when he or she is born."

"We've only just got back from Ino and Choji's wedding." Gaara muttered, rolling his eyes. He opened the folded letter, which had a page of messy scrawled handwriting. Naruto, definitely. "Come over here and read it. I'm not reading it out for you."

Lee did as he was told with an easy grin on his face, and sat on Gaara's lap, which caused the shorter man to pretend to be annoyed about when he actually loved it, although Lee was heavy with all his muscles. Gaara held the letter in front of them so they could both read it, and they began.

_To Lee and Gaara,_

_Hey! You'll never guess what happened. Well, I'm going to tell you anyway so there's no point in even trying to guess._

"Hinata had the baby earlier, maybe?" Gaara put in.

_Hinata had the baby early! She went into labour yesterday and gave birth just two or three hours later. How crazy is that? I told you, you couldn't guess that in a million years, right?_

"Idiot." Gaara said darkly.

"Oh, shush." Lee poked him fondly. He stared at what they had read thoughtfully. "He seems back to his old self, you know? Energetic and happy and -"

"Annoying?" The Kazekage offered. He agreed though. "Maybe the baby has finally given him something to put all of his heart and soul into besides work and Hinata that will take up his mourning for Sakura."

Lee objected Gaara's insult immediately. "Naruto-kun is not annoying! He is simply enjoying the springtime of adulthood into raising a young baby. He has grown from his youth!"

"You're reading too much of that book." Gaara groaned. "It was Gai supported. That means not good."

The Jounin shut him up with a quick, dry-lipped kiss then proceeded to read.

_It was a baby boy. He has Hinata's eyes, of course, but my spiky blonde hair. It is a very weird combination, but suits him. He weighs a healthy eight pounds, seven ounces and is the most beautiful child in the world. Though I would say that! And he has the marks on his cheeks that I do too. Although he doesn't say, I reckon the Nine Tails is proud of that._

_It is weird to think it was only months ago everything happened. I feel terrible when I remember some moments. But usually I can look back and understand. Ino, too. Tsunade puts up a front, but she misses her terribly too._

_How are you two? I hope you are both treating each other right! Lee, you'll be getting another, boringly official letter regarding an easy B Rank mission in a few days time._

_Ino is expecting now! She'll be the next mother. It feels weird to be a father, you know. Hinata suits a mother. She's so gentle, and kind. She'll be great to Hikaru. Wait. Did I even mention he was called Hikaru? I didn't! He's called Hikaru. I thought of it. It reminds me of both the names Hinata and Naruto. We're thinking of having another child in a year's time. A daughter this time, maybe. _

_That's all the updates for now. Everyone is fine, healthy and coping. I hope you two are._

_From,_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

"Hikaru, what a wonderful name." Lee practically gushed. "Oh and Ino-san is expecting too! Her and Choji-kun will definitely make good parents like Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan. You were right. He is coping."

"Hmm." Gaara tapped his fingertips on the table. He pushed Lee off gently and stood to look out of the window. "Lee. Do you want children?"

Lee thought about this seriously. "No. Not right now, Gaara-kun. Maybe in a few years."

"I agree." Relief flooded Gaara's face. Lee noticed, and jumped up to put an arm around his waist. "Now, what are we going to do for the rest of the day, once I get this paperwork done?"

"You will do what you want with me, as usual." The Jounin grinned. There was a pause, then he added hesitantly, "Gaara?"

"Yes?" The Kazekage looked up into his eyes.

"Would you say we are having a fantastic life?"

"A fantastic life? Yes. Yes we are." Gaara answered this in such a defiant tone Lee knew it was true. He knew it anyway, but he wanted to make sure Gaara felt the same way. So he was still fulfilling Sakura's last wish.

They stood like that, watching the outside world from this large window, for a long time. Then Gaara closed the curtain and kissed Lee softly, sweetly on the lips, different from his usual rough and impatient sorts. It was too soon to have children, it was true. But maybe one day.

The sun set in the distance, closing in on the day, turning it into the darkness that covered the sky, unbeknown to the two passionately kissing in the Kazekage's office.

It wasn't an unusual night. The stars were in the sky, clutching it like sequins on a velvet ebony blanket. There wasn't a cloud that hung over Suna, which meant civilians and ninjas alike were all out, enjoying the evening, drinking, gambling, doing whatever pleased them most.

Perhaps all but two ninja. Rock Lee, a unique looking twenty one year old was at his regular spot in the building, kissing his lover. He had been reading for several hours now and the words flashed around his head. His black bobbed hair was tousled and his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. At this kiss, he sank to the ground, his breathing in light gasps.

Gaara, an also unique looking nineteen year old didn't care to take in any details about his surroundings, or what he looked like. None of that mattered. All that mattered was Lee. He knelt down next to him and understood everything about love right then. Absolutely everything.

"I love you. Those words don't describe it enough." Gaara said.

"I love you too."

***

_The two are walking. So I propel the wind towards them, a gentle breeze, picking up the leaves. It was me._


	17. The Final Curtain Alternate Version

**Chapter Fifteen: The Final Curtain (Alternate Version)**

Gai and Kakashi were walking to a bar in the evening, talking about their previous students. They were going to get a new group of three people to mentor next week after years of having a break from it to let the newer Jounin have a chance. The night was still young, and the streets were crowded. The bar they were originally intending to go to was full, so they passed it and decided to just walk for a while and wait for the rush to die down. It had been raining earlier, but now, the weather was lovely. Gai hinted that going for a run would work out their bodies better, but Kakashi refused point blank.

"How is Ten Ten doing?" Kakashi asked quickly, steering the subject away from exercise.

"She's strong," Gai replied with enthusiasm. "She hasn't missed a target in absolutely years! In fact, she has even developed a new scroll and weapon technique made up by herself. It's very powerful. I'm proud of her."

"That's good." Kakashi nodded. He walked silently with the man for a few seconds. "I suppose you are most proud of Lee."

The bobbed haircut man grinned. "Lee has succeeded in his childhood ambition of beating Neji. He is stronger than him now. He has trained so hard. And now, he finally has his reward." Up ahead was an almost empty bar; the two Ninja sat in it and ordered some Sake.

When it came, Kakashi took a long drink before answering Gai. "You mean Gaara?"

"Exactly!" Gai sounded so happy; tears welled up in his eyes. "My wonderful Lee has found himself a love. This will surely only make him train harder to match a Kazekage's level!"

Before Kakashi could reply, Gai noticed a figure running up to them. He jumped from his seat and shouted, "SHIKAMARU! I haven't spoken to you in many days! How are things?" Then he noticed the Jounin's expression. "What is it?" Gai inquired, his voice low now; serious.

Shikamaru looked at one of the men for longer, his eyes full of pain. "You have to come with me, immediately." He eventually murmured, eyes to the ground. The Jounin had his arms pinned to his sides and fists clenched in frustration for what had happened. But he was determined not to cry. "The mission…something happened…Konoha Hospital…"

The senior ninjas looked at each other in surprise. "Shikamaru, what is it?" Kakashi persisted. "Who is it?"

But the shadow manipulator kept his head down and walked away, waving a hand to indicate they must follow him. Realising the seriousness of the situation, they did so, silently, following the genius mind of Konoha. And as they did, they saw him tremble slightly, keeping control of his emotions. This was serious. He hadn't acted like this since…well. _Since someone he knew had died. _Kakashi thought with a grim expression.

Gai was more open with his thoughts. "Lee?" He choked out.

Shikamaru froze for a second. Just a second. Then he carried on walking determinedly to the hospital. When they arrived, Gai ran straight in, already sure of what must have happened, demanding to know Lee's room. Kakashi and Shikamaru followed after him.

When the three arrived in the waiting hall outside the room, they saw Shizune, Sai, Hinata, Ino and Neji sat on the chairs. Neji had covered his face with his hands and Ino was crying. Shizune stood up as she saw them, a pained look on her face, but a flicker of surprise too. "Oh! Both of you. I'd have thought it would have only been…have you told them what happened?" She asked Shikamaru hesitantly, who shook his head in reply. The dark haired woman nodded slowly and turned to Gai and Kakashi. Gai, who was fidgeting impatiently, his face a mask of horror, and Kakashi, who stood composed but worried. "The mission brought a huge loss." Shizune eventually murmured. "Tsunade-sama, Ino and I did everything we could…" She stepped backwards. "You can go in. The Fifth and Sixth Hokage are in there with the Kazekage."

Gai burst through the door, not wanting to wait a second longer to find out exactly what happened. The door clicked shut behind Kakashi. Then they both stared.

***

Away from the hospital, from Konoha, past the forests and through the wilderness and different civilian villages, into the desert and miles away, into Suna and the Kazekage's building, up three floors and across the hall into an office, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, was Temari, acting as substitute Kage for the time Gaara was away. She had only just finished her work for the entire day, realising how much Gaara had to do everyday. It was quiet for once, without anyone rushing in with any more paperwork for her to do.

Stacking the sheets of paper to one side, the blonde propped her elbows on the desk and rested her head on her hands. She got the feeling she was being left in the dark about something. Where exactly was Gaara again? Kankuro was definitely hiding something about him.

"That's it." Temari sighed. She stood up and made her way to Kankuro's room. She was going to find out what exactly was going on. She arrived at Kankuro's door and banged on it impatiently.

"What?" Her brother opened the door, yawning. His make up was scrubbed off for the day and he was wearing his relaxing clothes. "Can't you see I'm about to go to bed? I've had to go to all the meetings Gaara had to go to while you sorted out his paperwork, you know."

Ignoring his tired greeting, Temari pushed past him and sat herself on the chair in his room. "Look, Kankuro." She snapped. He closed the door and sat on the other chair, an almost knowing look on his face, like he knew why she was here. "You and Gaara are hiding something from me, I just know it." The eldest of the three siblings gasped when she saw the look in Kankuro's eyes. "I knew it! Come on! Tell me. I'm your sister. I deserve to know. Is it about who Gaara is secretly seeing? Who is she? Is that where Gaara has gone? Konoha?"

Kankuro groaned. "Temari, promise not to go crazy when I tell you, okay?"

She frowned. "I promise. Now tell me."

"And I only know because I walked in on the two of them about to do it right before my eyes." Kankuro added, incase Temari fussed about not being told before him. The memory shone in his mind for a second and he shook his head to get rid of it.

"So it _is_ someone Gaara's with." Temari grinned triumphantly. "I told you so! Now. _Is_ it Sakura? Or perhaps Matsuri? But no, then he wouldn't have to go to Konoha for her…"

Uneasily, Kankuro answered, "It's Lee."

The astounded face Temari's expression turned in to was nothing like what Kankuro had seen before. She covered her mouth with both hands and just stared at her brother in silent shock for a minute. Then, astonishing Kankuro, her face creased and she removed her hands, revealing a smile. A bubble of laughter escaped her lips, and as it did, she couldn't stop.

"I'm not joking," Kankuro added, puzzled. "Why are you laughing?"

Temari guffawed. "Trust Gaara!" She gasped. "He wouldn't be able to deal with women. Though really, _Lee_…" She laughed again. "I can't quite get my head around that!"

"Don't let Gaara hear you laughing at Lee," Kankuro warned her, though he was grinning too. "He loves him. And Lee loves him. That's where he's gone." The grin had vanished from Kankuro's face. "Lee was taken by unknown enemy ninja and these ninja sent a letter to Gaara demanding him to come otherwise Lee would be hurt, or worse, killed."

"What?" The laughter died in Temari's throat. "Kankuro, why didn't you tell me this? How can you have let Gaara go alone -"

"Everyone thinks he is visiting Konoha for an emergency meeting with the Hokage, so of course only I knew the real reason as Gaara told me about it before he set off. Otherwise of course the Council would have insisted someone go with him. But these ninja said only Gaara could come." The male replied, shrugging. "There's nothing we can do about it. Hopefully Gaara will be home soon or we'll at least get a report updating us on the situation he is in."

His sister sighed. "This is too much information to digest at once. I still can't believe Gaara is with Lee of all people…and then this has happened…I just hope they're both going to be okay."

"So you're okay with it? Gaara and Lee I mean?" Kankuro gaped at Temari.

"Well, yeah. There's no point wasting time fussing about my brother's relationships. Though I _am_ angry I wasn't informed sooner! Am I the last to know or something? Even some enemy ninja know before I do!" The Jounin answered crossly, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "Now that I know all of this, I think I need to go to bed. I'm tired, suddenly, with all this news. Goodnight, Kankuro."

Kankuro rolled his eyes. "You gave me stick and teasing about Kiba for a month." He muttered under his breath. But then he raised his voice slightly and bid goodnight to his sister. "Don't tell the Council about Gaara's secret mission." He added.

"As if I would!" She assured him, then was out of the room quickly before anything else could be said. As she paced down the hallway, she couldn't quite believe what she had just heard. But she just hoped her baby brother, the Kazekage, the once evil turned good Gaara, was all right.

***

Gai rushed to Lee's side where Gaara was sitting next to him and Kakashi sat on the chair next to Naruto around Sakura's bed. Tsunade was stood at the back, a focused expression on her face, as if she were forcing herself not to show any emotion at all. The room was grey tiled, white walled, and there was a single big window showing the outside world on the opposite wall from the door. The two beds, occupied, had white sheets and faded white quilts. Each bed had a bedside table next to them, and each bedside table had a vase of flowers on top of them. There was a chair either side of the beds, all occupied by the visitors. Naruto held Sakura's hand; Gaara held Lee's. There was moment when no one said anything. Then everyone did something at once.

Tsunade excused herself and exited the room, closing the door behind her politely. Gai clasped Lee's other hand in a fatherly manner, and almost felt like his father at that moment. Gaara tightened his grip on Lee. Kakashi bowed his head; Naruto screwed up his face, tears threatening. And Sakura coughed twice before opening her eyes to the world, to everyone in the room. The only person who didn't do anything was Lee.

Because Lee was dead.

"Naruto?" Sakura blinked and looked around in a daze. She rubbed at the bandage tied around her throat. "What…what…?" Her eyes blurred for a second before they recovered. "How did I get here? What happened?"

"You can't remember?" Naruto asked, stating the obvious. He clutched her hand. "You can't remember anything?"

"There was something…oh!" Sakura put her free hand to her mouth. "Those Ninja? Lee! Oh my goodness, is Lee okay?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I am sorry, Sakura. Lee had a serious stab wound, and couldn't be saved. He died a few hours ago."

Gai choked out a strangled sort of sound, and a tear slid down his cheek. "This cannot be true. Is there nothing Tsunade can do?!" He leapt up from his seat and made for the door. "There has to be something she can do."

"There isn't, and you know there isn't." Kakashi's tone was soft and low. Gai stopped in his tracks, back to everyone, shoulders shaking. He was crying.

Sakura had never seen Gai cry before. She looked over at Lee and saw his peaceful body, as if it were just sleeping. Seeing him like this pained her heart more than she ever thought something could hurt. This was worse than her injury by far. Gaara was sat holding Lee's hand, she saw, but his face was dead; there was no emotion there, no twitch of movement. He was sat still as a rock, just staring into Lee's closed eyes._ This cannot be true, _she thought, echoing Gai's words just seconds before. _How could this have happened to Lee? My wonderful Lee…_

"Lee and I had a promise to each other that I must keep." Gai whispered. "I _will_ keep this promise. There are just a few things I have to sort out first." He touched Lee's cheek, then left.

Kakashi glanced up in alarm as he heard the door slam. "A promise? Surely he can't mean…?"

But no one could ask him what he meant, as at that exact moment, Gaara stood up, eyes dead, movements dead, and spoke in a dead, low voice. "You should have died." He directed this to Sakura, whose eyes widened a little in surprise. "You should have died." The Kazekage repeated with venom. "But Lee is dead."

"Gaara!" Naruto tried to help the situation immediately. He saw the sudden evil look in Gaara's eyes, the way his hand was moving up. "Kakashi. I think you had better leave so I can talk to Gaara alone for a while."

"She will still be here." Gaara stated coldly, turning his raised hand into a finger pointing at the pink haired woman.

"I - I will go to sleep." Sakura told him quickly. She was feeling tired anyway, and let her eyes drop. She was asleep in a matter of seconds, a tiny frown on her face.

Naruto came over to Gaara and sat on a chair next to Lee, who liked like he was asleep too. Unlike Sakura, there was a peaceful expression on his face, almost a smile but not quite. Gaara sat down again, but kept his glare on Sakura until he turned to look at Lee, and his expression melted back to the dead form it was. It was so desolate and sad and angry, all at the same time. Naruto looked away for a moment; it was paining him too much to see in front of him a deceased friend and a dead one from the inside.

"I don't know what to say to you, I'll admit." Naruto murmured. "If Hinata died I have no idea how I'd feel, because it hasn't happened, so I can only guess what you are going through." There was no response, the room was silent, apart from Sakura's deep breathing, that made Gaara clench his fist all the more. "Think of it this way," Naruto continued, hating the silence. "Lee would not want you like this. He would want you to carry on with your life putting on a brave face. If Sakura had been the one to die, Lee would have been trying to make the best of the situation, I just know it. Don't trouble yourself with what-ifs, though, Gaara. You just have to move forwards in difficult times like these."

"You don't know Lee at all." Gaara whispered.

"I do." Naruto nodded. "You knew Lee the most, perhaps, including Gai Sensei, but Lee was my friend too. And Sakura's." _Perhaps more for Sakura, _he thought with a frown. "And I know him too."

"He would have been extremely upset if Sakura had died." The redhead informed the Hokage quietly. "She was his first love…" He put his face in his hands. "This is too much. I cannot bear it. Why did Lee have to die? Why couldn't that worthless girl have died?" Then he stopped. "No. I don't mean that. I've changed. I just wish Lee didn't have to die."

"I know." Naruto soothed. He reached out to take his hand but Gaara flinched away.

"Only Lee can hold this hand." The redhead snapped. "Sitting around talking isn't going to do much. There is no point anymore. What is the point of this world if Lee isn't in it?" He bent over the body of his lover and kissed him on the lips. "Naruto, leave for a while."

"Of course." The Hokage looked at Lee for a moment and sighed. _This is too much. Fuzzy Brows, why couldn't you have pulled through? _"I'll tell everyone outside to go, shall I?" The response was a nod, and so he left, leaving Gaara with Lee and a sleeping Sakura.

Words were spoken into Lee's ear. Gaara was careful to make sure Sakura's unconscious mind wouldn't hear these words. No one would hear them apart from Lee. Then Gaara kissed Lee again; leaned against him for a few minutes. "Goodbye, Lee." Gaara whispered, as he stood up to leave. He kissed the Jounin one last time, waiting for him to reciprocate, but Lee never did. It was too much for the redhead and he walked out quickly straight down the hallway and out into the outside world.

Gushes of wind blew into his face but he didn't care. He was walking, but he didn't know where. He could end up on the other side of the world and he wouldn't even be bothered. He could die somewhere and he would be happy. Without Lee, what was the point in life? There was no one else he loved. The Kazekage thought briefly of his siblings, but he felt nothing. He thought of Naruto and felt nothing. All his feelings were on Lee now. As he stalked down a dusty path, a figure hidden in the shadows of a tree stepped out in front of him and held up their hand to signal Gaara should stop to speak to them. It was Neji.

"What do you want?" The Kazekage asked, his tone impatient. A leaf flew past his face, speed impeccable, and it reminded him of Lee. There was that pain in his heart again that he had when he was younger. It was back. For good.

"I don't know." Neji sighed deeply and walked closer. "It was clearly his destiny for his path of life to end here. It was fate. But I just wanted to know…" He paused tentatively, licking his lips in an anxious sort of way. "Was Lee - was Lee happy? Before he died? He was my team mate, my rival. It's hard to believe he's gone, you know? Well, of course you know. I'm just being…" He let his voice trail away.

"I am not in the mood to converse, Neji." Gaara told him. "But I can say with confidence that Lee was happy. With me. Now I am unhappy. Without him."

"Oh, er…" Neji seemed a bit flustered for a second at this response. Then he composed himself and outstretched a hand to the smaller redhead. "You're not alone in this. I miss Lee so much it is almost unbearable to think about him. But it's better to talk about things like this. We are all affected in different ways but talking helps everyone to cope." He was just repeating what Ten Ten had said to him earlier, encouraging him to check with Gaara Lee was happy, her eyes brimming with tears.

The Kazekage turned from the Jounin and started to walk away.

"Hey! Wait!" Neji called, slightly annoyed he was being ignored like this. "I'm talking to you. Don't be like that. Gaara?" He hesitated, not wanting to step closer to the man who had stopped and now had his back to him, fists clenched.

"Nothing will help me cope. _Nothing_. So stop pretending you cared as much about Lee as me." The words sounded mean, but Gaara's tone didn't imply this. His voice was more a constant monotone of dullness. He unclenched his fists with a sigh and walked more forcefully towards Naruto's apartment, where he was staying while in Konoha now that Lee was gone. _Now that Lee was gone._ This very thought made Gaara want to curl up and hide away, scream into the darkness that was surrounding him. Was this death for the living? Did other people experience this? _No. I cared about Lee more than anything. Care. _"Leave me alone, Neji. Lee was happy. Now he is dead. What more do you want?" Then he was gone, away, into the building, closing the door behind him with a slam.

Neji was left outside. "I tried." He spoke out loud, to no one in particular, then walked away, his footsteps scattering dust into the air.

***

Sakura woke up to the sound of birds cheeping, and a bright, blue sky with the sun shining through the curtains. A nurse came in and checked her temperature, and blood pressure, then helped sit her up and opened the window and curtains. Breeze fluttered in lazily, making Sakura's hair move. After the nurse left, Sakura smiled happily. She looked to her right, at the empty bed next to her, and the smile left her lips in an instant.

She'd completely forgotten. How could she have forgotten? Lee was dead. His body was gone, too.

Tears dripped down her cheeks. Of course, her and Lee would never have worked out. He was homosexual. He was with Gaara. She'd had her chance, and blown it. And now, neither she nor Gaara could have Lee. It was all her fault. Why didn't she do something back there? She could have, she was sure. A punch. A technique. Anything. She thought back, and all she could see was a snivelling wimp, not worthy of walking on the same ground as Lee. Oh, what must he be thinking now of her?

No, Lee wasn't like that. He'd be telling her to cheer up, it wasn't the end of the world. His youth had come to a close, but her youth would continue to blossom and spread happiness to others around her. She was a beautiful, young, kind individual and Lee was happy to have been good friends with her.

_Whoa. _Sakura wiped her tears away and sniffed, her eyes widening just a bit. _I swear Lee just entered my mind then. That would be exactly what he would say. Oh, Lee. I love you. So much. Why can't you still be alive?_

Even to see him with Gaara would be a blessing right now. She would be happy for them. But it wasn't meant to be as it happened.

There was a knock on the door. She glanced up, startled. Usually, the nurses just came in straight away, no matter how impolite that seemed. It must be a visitor. After a few seconds of waiting, she realised she was meant to respond. But the door opened away, and to Sakura's immense surprise it was Gaara that walked through the door, with Naruto. Their expressions were grim; they matched her own.

She rubbed at the bandage tied around her neck multiple times and didn't feel any pain, which relieved her. The two Kage sat on chairs; Sakura noticed Gaara looked at the empty bed longer than he should have. There was a pause before Naruto blurted out, "We wanted to talk to you. Well, Gaara wanted to talk to you."

"I…What about?" Sakura said in a tired voice. "When's the funeral?" She asked quietly.

"Three days. Tsunade says you can come out in time." Naruto replied slowly. "I'm glad you're recovering, Sakura." He kissed her forehead, then sighed. "I'll be leaving now. I need to finish some work. Gaara." He put a hand on his shoulder. "Both of you need to talk about Lee."

When he was gone, Gaara said, "Were you in love with Lee?"

Sakura didn't try to deny it. "Yes. But I know it would never have worked out. You could tell whenever he came back from Suna, like he was missing a half of him, but was so happy it felt like he was providing the light for the world, rather than the sun. He was so happy. And I realise that now; it was you." Gaara frowned in the strangest sense that seemed he was happy about this despite the action. "You two were meant to be. I had my chance and I blew it. Lee and you, you might be chalk and cheese separated, but together you were the perfect couple. I can tell, even though you two never got the chance to -" She paused. She was warbling. But she wanted to say what she was feeling. Besides the aching pain for the Jounin.

"To act like a couple in front of everyone?"

"Well…" The Chuunin hesitated. "It is true. The first time I realised - there was the battle - and then Lee…"

"I would rather we didn't discuss that." Gaara cut her voice off instantly. "I just wanted you to tell me of your feelings for Lee and how much you miss him. Because I wonder how other people feel. It's killing me. I said I didn't want to talk about it to Neji but Naruto convinced me talking is for the best."

Sakura felt compassion for the Kazekage at that moment. Someone, at least, was feeling the way she did. "It feels like my heart is being crushed a little bit more each second, and it isn't letting up." She told him truthfully, rubbing at the place where her heart was. "When I was first told Lee was dead I was so dazed from the battle and confused I didn't properly take it in. Now I've had time to think about it I can't believe it. I honestly can't. Lee was always so full of life, you know? He can't have died from some enemy ninja. He was the fastest and one of the strongest Jounin out there."

"I feel like I'm not alive anymore. I'm just a body hosted by a dead mind, a dead heart. I feel no emotion other than depression and anger. This shouldn't have happened." Gaara blinked, slowly. "I'm forgetting to do that."

"To do what?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Blink." He answered. "Everything is an effort."

"Gaara…" He was distraught, Sakura realised. He was hurting far more than anyone else. Far more than her. The pain for her was almost unbearable, what must it be like for him? She didn't want to know. "I'm so sorry. This was all my fault. You don't know how guilty I feel."

The Kazekage actually looked surprised for a moment. "Your fault? It's all my fault. Don't pretend to know what happened."

"I -"

"_I_ killed the enemy's sister. Remember?" Gaara ran a hand though his hair and sighed. "Don't think you know everything. Because if you knew everything you'd know it was my fault. Whether it was your death, or Lee's death, it would have been my fault. It just so happened to be Lee's death. That hurts me the most. I'll be honest, I'd have felt no pain if you had died."

Sakura lowered her gaze to her lap. "I know." She mumbled. "Sometimes I wish it was the other way around. That I died and Lee didn't. I was willing to die hours ago in the hospital room. I was willing to. But Tsunade pressed on."

"She worked on you, instead of Lee." Gaara spoke this, back to his emotionless voice, matching his face once more. "Thank you for speaking with me, Sakura. I will leave you now." He stood up and left without another word, not even waiting for Sakura to reply or bid goodbye to him.

***

The day of the funeral, and the weather was crisp and clear, a pure winter morning. There was no snow, but even without it, people knew the holidays were approaching just to this morning; the sheer coldness. But this was the civilians. The Ninja were gathering for a funeral, and a funeral of one of the strongest Ninja they had in Konoha. It was this Ninja's birthday the day before, and a certain someone had sat by the river and threw stones into it, a stone for each year that person's age was. When this person reached the twenty second stone, they held it in their hand for a few minutes, just staring at it blankly. The Kazekage stood up from their seating position, turned around and threw the stone onto the grass. It didn't bounce, just made a loud thud and a dent in the blades. This stone didn't get to sink into the water as it travelled through its path of life. It didn't get the chance.

Today though, Gaara walked with his head down past this place until he reached the graveyard. Others were already there, but it wasn't as crowded as it should have been yet. He ignored everyone and sat at the front, ready to speak. His eyes were only on the coffin, waiting to be lowered into the ground. Lee was inside there. Gaara choked suddenly, his throat was almost closing up. This was unbelievable.

About a hundred metres away, Sakura was walking along with Ino, Choji, Hinata and Naruto. She was trying hard not to cry, but it was such an effort. Her fists were clenched, as was her jaw, set in a determined fashion to try to show she was coping when she wasn't. Naruto suddenly reached over and unclenched her right hand, holding it tightly in his. This gesture was so random, but caring, Sakura squeezed his hand gratefully back. She turned to look at Hinata, who gave her a supporting smile. Everyone was being so lovely, when they were all hurting inside aswell. Ino seemed on the brink of tears, and just as they were drawing nearer to the graveyard, she let them out.

"If I were a better medical ninja," she gasped, the tears spilling from her eyes uncontrollably. Ino took a lock of her long, blonde hair and pulled at it desperately. "Lee would still be alive. I'm useless. I don't deserve to be a medic, if I only let someone die. If Sakura were operating on him, she'd have saved him. I just know it. What have I done?"

The last sentence came out as a wail, and Ino buried her head in Choji's broad chest. He held her there as she wept, and gave the others a concerned look. "Ino," he whispered, bending his head to look at her properly. "Lee's injuries were obviously too severe for him to be saved. It has nothing to do with your skill. Everyone knows you're an excellent medical ninja. Only the other month you saved that ANBU ninja when he was stabbed. This was just too much. It was too late, there wasn't enough time, their journey took a while to bring Sakura and Lee back."

The sniffling woman straightened up and looked at everyone. She wiped her tears away and gave them a calm and collected gaze. "I'm sorry about that. I just…" Ino couldn't find the words and gave up. "Look. We don't want to be late, so let's walk quicker."

"We'll all get through this, you'll see." Hinata informed the group as they paced faster. "In a few months time, I'm sure we'll be able to look back on Lee and remember the good times."

"Oh, Fuzzy Brows," Naruto sighed. "Why couldn't you have pulled through?"

The funeral went slowly, as most do. Naruto stood up to speak first, and as he did, Gaara felt like he was falling through time and space, to another world, because this world wasn't real, Lee couldn't be dead. He was the most alive person Gaara had ever known. Sakura stood up next, and he tried to listen to her, because she loved him too, but he couldn't. As it happened, the only person he listened to was Gai, as he knew that Gai and himself were the only two people who truly understood Lee. And Gai looked like a wreck.

There wasn't a dry eye in the house. Was that the saying? It seemed appropriate after Gai's words. Gaara glanced around and not one Ninja didn't seem sad, upset, angry at the death of Lee. He was so positive he had huge numbers of friends. They were all here. Mourning the man Gaara loved.

"After the funeral, I will fulfil my promise to Lee." Gai told everyone, which caused some looks from some of the Jounin. "I just want to say, continue. Do not be affected by my promise. This will make me a happier man." He stepped down, and was pulled aside by Kakashi, who looked like he was having a serious word with him. Gaara realised it was his turn, and stood up, not at all nervous or anxious about what he was going to say, because he was keeping this short, unlike everybody else.

The audience, if you could call them that, were silent as they stared at the Kazekage. Gaara swallowed, cleared his throat, then spoke in the voice he had adopted since Lee's death. The dead monotone. "I loved Lee, and Lee loved me. Now he is dead, and so am I." That was all. Gaara stepped down, brushed the coffin with his fingertips, then walked away. He didn't wait to see it lowered, and no one went after him, although Naruto looked like he wanted to.

***

It was the evening, and Gaara returned to the graveyard, returned to Lee's grave. He was buried now, but it didn't matter to Gaara. He took off the gourd on his back and rested it against Lee's grave. Then he took a step back, stared at the sight in front of him, and did something he hadn't done in over fifteen years.

The Kazekage cried.

That was when the memory came flooding back to him, as if the tears were the turning of a tap in his mind, and the water was coming out now. The memory that had made him cry, because it the last memory he had of Lee before he died, and he wanted to cherish it forever, but he knew he would forget the exact details one day.

_Tsunade held a constant flow of heavy Chakra onto Sakura's wound, trying desperately to perform this healing Jutsu that could only be done while she was kept awake. If she fell unconscious, there'd be nothing she could do. Shizune worked on Lee with Ino, and he was fading fast. Sakura seemed to be healing, and Tsunade wanted to work on Lee but couldn't move from this position._

_Both of the injured were awake, bearing with the unbearable pain that hit them with each second, with no let up. Lee turned his head to look at Sakura and Tsunade. The Fifth Hokage was sweating with concentration and working as hard as she could. But it had taken the group so long to reach Konoha Hospital. What if it was too late? Lee couldn't think like that._

"_Shizune!" Tsunade shrieked. "Put your maximum efforts into Lee! You as well Ino! Be swift! Put him out of danger like I have done with Sakura!" The dark haired woman shouted at acted immediately and Lee felt even more pain than before, but relief aswell. Sakura was going to be okay. Then he turned his head to Gaara, who was holding his hand tight._

_Ino and Shizune struggled together, and almost managed it, not quite keeping Lee's injury on the mend. Lee suddenly coughed up blood with a yelp of pain. The yelp was what made Sakura's heart break. He tried to lift an arm to tell them to stop wasting their time on him and just save Sakura (it was instinct) but didn't have the energy and had to just let them._

_Although he couldn't turn lift an arm, his head was faced in Gaara's direction and he could speak to the man. "Gaara." His voice was hoarse, like he hadn't drank in years, and was drying out completely. "Gaara. I love you. More than life itself. I'm sorry." Lee coughed again. Gaara squeezed his hand tighter. "I'm sorry I didn't make it. I love you." Then he smiled. _

"_I love you, Lee." Gaara replied quietly. "I'm sorry, too." That was when Shizune and Ino stopped the Chakra flow and held both hands to their mouths in shock. That was when Lee had died._

_Tsunade carried on with Lee, but silent tears fell down her face. She had formed a bond with the young man after his operation all those years ago; she felt something for him. Now he was gone. All she could do was make sure Sakura didn't go the same way._

Sakura and Naruto appeared at Lee's grave only ten minutes later, but Gaara was gone, and all they saw was the grave and the gourd, together, touching. Naruto saw this, and ran. He ran all the way back to his apartment, not once stopping, running to hope this wasn't what he thought it was.

***

_Hokage,_

_Please tell the people of Suna I would have been a pathetic Kazekage from the moment Lee died, and I wasn't worthy of the position. I suggest my sister, Temari, to become the new Kazekage and if she does not wish to do so Kankuro. I apologise to you, Naruto, for having to find me like I am, and probably being the first to read this letter. It was the only way the sand guard would let me perish. Do not mourn for me, please. I was already dead the moment Lee's heart stopped beating. I am with him now, if there is an afterlife, so I am happier than I ever could have been on this world. Farewell._

_Sabaku no Gaara._

"I found him lying in my bath, under the water, drowned." Naruto told Tsunade after she had finished reading the letter. "He is still in there now because I didn't know what to do, I just came to inform you of his death."

The Fifth Hokage stood up and put her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "That makes three."

"Three?" Naruto gasped.

Hinata coughed to signal she was here, behind them, and the two Hokage turned to look at her. "I told Tsunade only a few moments before you walked in. Gai was found dead in the training area he and Lee used, deep in the forest. Kakashi told me this was his promise. If Lee goes, he goes. If he goes, Lee goes. There was no stopping him according to Kakashi. He must keep his promise, he was happier now, he said."

"Take me to Gaara." Tsunade murmured. She placed the letter down on her desk and ordered Hinata to find Shizune and tell her to contact Suna with this news. Hinata nodded and left the room, leaving the Hokage in silence.

"I cannot believe it. Lee, Gaara, Gai…not even in a week." Naruto whispered. "I'll take you to Gaara, but…" He hesitated. "It's odd."

"What is?" Tsunade asked with a frown.

"Don't you feel the relief too? Gai and Gaara…they're happy now. With Lee." Naruto scratched his blonde hair. "Just ignore me."

"No," The Fifth let herself smile slightly. "I feel it too. But who knew Lee had this must power over people…he was incredible. All three were. This is a great loss, but if there is an afterlife, let's hope they're looking down on us and smiling, eh?"

Naruto agreed. They walked to his apartment and saw Gaara in the bath water.

It was rare to see a smile on Gaara's face, but there it was, under the water, on the face of a dead, but now happy, man.

**Author's Note: **_**-sniffles at Gaara, Lee and Gai- Oh this was ending was too sad for me to use it as the real one. I suppose you can choose the ending you want as the real one, but for me, the first ending was the true one, the happier one. Anyway. I want to take this chance just to say thank you to all of my reviewers that supported me while I was writing this, and of course all the readers. It has helped me to improve my writing and I do hope you've enjoyed this story. Now, that was the last instalment of The Blossoming of Sand. It's been an awesome thing to write, the whole of it! Here's to my second multi chaptered fan fiction!**_


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